Perth Standlick and Casey Brown prevail in Round 1 of 2011 Reef Hawaiian Pro
2011 Reef Hawaiian Pro, the first of the three stops on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing World Cup, continued with the Round of 128 (Round 1) as Australia’s Perth Standlick took on America’s Eric Geiselman and Matt Pagan, as well as Hawaii’s Myles Padaca
in the 15th heat, whereas the 16th heat saw Hawaii’s Casey Brown take on his countryman Makuakai Rothman, America’s Nathaniel Curran and Brazil’s Caio Ibelli.
Standlick and Geiselman fought tooth and nail for victory until the final minutes in the 15th heat. As the dust settled, however, it was the Australian who managed to walk away with top honours, forcing the latter to settle for runner-up place.
Both the surfers advanced through into the Round of 96 (Round 2) as a result of top-two finish. Pagan and Padaca rounded out the third and fourth position, consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
The 16th heat saw Brown clinch a comfortable win to confidently make his way into the next round. Curran successfully extended his life in the event by securing runner-up place. The third and fourth-place finish by Rothman and Ibelli respectively
led to their removal from the contention for the event title.
With clean head-high waves on offer at the primary event site, the 21-year-old Standlick found himself squaring off with Geiselman in what seemed to be a head-to-head battle instead of a four-man one.
Both the surfers got off to a slow start, but Standlick managed to break of the shackles first by locking a wave half-way through the heat to post a 5.33 on the score-board. Geiselman soon responded with a 5.67-point wave to take the lead and assert pressure
on his Australian rival.
As the heat progressed, Geiselman added an additional 6.00 points to his account, taking his heat-total to 11.67 points. With the heat getting close to the buzzer, Standlick found himself under immense pressure. Just when it seemed that victory had slipped
out of his hands, the Australian surfer locked a wave in the dying minutes of the heat to collect 6.50 points off it and rose to a heat-total of 11.83 points. The last-minute effort earned him victory, while pushing Geiselman to second place.
Pagan and Padaca failed to make a solid impact during the 15th heat and finished with a heat-total of 8.64 and 6.97-points respectively, failing to make the Round 2 cut as a result.
The 16th heat saw Brown completely steal the show with a superb performance despite challenging surfing conditions at hand. As the heat got under-way, he got off to a patient start and gradually built momentum to eventually begin his charge. He
caught his first business-wave mid-way through the heat and earned an impressive 7.00 off it. Adding an additional 7.57 points to his account in the final minutes, the local-favourite wrapped up the heat with a two-wave total of 14.57 points, sealing the fate
of the contest in his favour.
Curran got off to a decent start, earning 6.50 points off his first wave. However, he struggled to catch waves and his search for another competitive score did not prove too fruitful either. He eventually finished with a heat-total of 11.30 points, which
put him in second place and added him to the Round 2 line-up.
Rothman finished in third place with a heat-total of 9.60 points, while Ibelli finished last with 9.30 points in total off his top-two waves. Both the surfers got ejected from the competition as a result of their bottom-two finish.
For more updates on Round 1 of the Reef Hawaiian Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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