Royden Bryson and Olamana Eleogram prevail in Round 3 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
South Africa’s Royden Bryson and Hawaii’s Olamana Eleogram emerged triumphant in their respective Round 3 (Round of 48) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest in Merewether Beach in New South
Wales, Australia, on Thursday, March 15.
The Round 3 success served to carry both Bryson and Eleogram into the fourth round (Round of 24) of the event. Australia’s Jordin Watson and Brazil’s Willian Cardoso also managed to secure their place in the next round after making a runner-up finish in
the seventh and eighth heat of Round 3 respectively.
The shapely two-to-three foot waves turned out to be a pretty good setting for a series of battles between some of the best surfers from around the world, who had converged to Merewether Beach to pursue the coveted prize cheque as well as the ASP rating
points that were on offer.
Squaring off with an in-form Watson, his compatriot Thomas Woods and France’s Marc Lacomare in the seventh heat, Bryson put on a sensational performance to take the win. The South African surfer went through a series of average wave-scores before beginning
his charge. Locking a juicy wave halfway through the heat, Bryson posted a 7.10 on the score-board and immediately followed it up with an identical score to finish with a heat-total of 14.20 points.
Watson was nothing short of impressive either, but failed to get the score required to get past Bryson on the score-board. Scoring a 5.67 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 7.50-point wave, the Australian surfer finished in runner-up place
with a heat-total of 13.17 points.
Lacomare finished third with a heat-total of 12.80 points, whereas Woods rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 7.48 points. The failure to land in top-two resulted in the elimination of both the surfers from the competition.
Eleogram completely stole the show during the eighth heat of the third round after putting on a phenomenal performance. The Hawaiian surfer scored a 7.43 off his first business-wave and went on to collect a 9.00 off his second business-wave for a heat-total
of 16.43 points. The score turned out to be a decisive one, earning him top honours.
Cardoso extended his life in the event as well after securing runner-up place through a heat-total of 13.50 points, which included a couple of scores in the six-point range.
Australia’s Tim Macdonald and Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro were unable to make a solid impact during the heat and got eliminated from the contention for the event title after finishing with a heat-total of 10.77 and 9.54 points respectively.
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