Romain Cloitre and Marlon Lipke surge into Round 2 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro – ASP Prime Event
Intense surfing action continued at the iconic Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal, with the 13th and 14th heat of Billabong Azores Islands Pro’s Round of 96 (Round 1) on Thursday, September 29.
France’s Romain Cloitre came up with an impressive performance during the 13th heat to capture victory and advance through to the Round of 48 (Round 2). Accompanying him into next round was America’s Brett Simpson, who finished in runner-up place
to extend his life in the competition. South Africa’s Brandon Jackson finished third, while America’s Richie Collins rounded out the fourth position. Both surfers were consequently removed from the contention for event title.
The 14th heat ended with Germany’s Marlon Lipke taking the win to enter into Round 2. Brazil’s Marco Polo successfully survived the first round as well by securing a runner-up finish to make the Round 2 cut. Northern Spain’s Aritz Aranburu and
South Africa’s Royden Bryson finished in third and fourth places respectively, getting eliminated from the competition as a result.
As the 13th heat kicked-off, the 22-year-old Cloitre took control of the heat early on, locking a wave to unload a string of impressive tricks and collecting 8.87 points for the effort. A small yet effective hunt allowed him to add another 6.33
points to his account, taking him to a heat-total of 15.20 points. His lead held on until the very end and eventually carried him-off to victory.
Simpson looked pretty feisty during the 25-minute heat as well and squeezed a 7.60 off a juicy wave early on. He scored 5.60 points off a wave in the dying minutes to get to a heat-total of 13.20 points, which proved to be enough to get him into Round 2.
Jackson and Collins seemed to have completely surrendered to the demanding surfing conditions and only managed to get to a heat-total of 4.96 and 4.14 points, respectively. The disappointing performance led to their expulsion from the competition.
As the 14th heat got underway, it was the 26-year-old Marlon Lipke who asserted his dominance with an exquisite 8.77-point wave, which featured a combination of impressive manoeuvres. An addition of another 5.93 points to his account took him
to a heat-total of 14.70 points, which eventually earned him top honours.
Polo came up with a pretty impressive performance as well, scoring a couple of sevens early in the heat to get to a heat-total of 14.27 points. He finished in second place, consequently extending his life in the competition by going through to the next round.
Aranburu finished third with a heat-total of 8.97 points, while Bryson rounded out the fourth position after only managing to get to a heat-total of 8.33 points. The lacklustre performances resulted in their exclusion from the competition.
For more updates on Round 1 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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