Royden Bryson defeats Marc Lacomare in second Semi-final of Hainan Classic
South Africa’s Royden Bryson earned himself a shot at the event title after taking a convincing win over France’s Marc Lacomare in the second Semi-final of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Hainan Classic that went down at the Riyue Bay
in Wanning, China, on Saturday, January 14.
The decision by ASP to move to China for their first 4-Star event of the year was proving to be a correct one indeed. Even though there were a lot of doubts regarding the surfing conditions at the primary event site, they turned out to be for nothing as
the competition went down in high-performance waves. The surf had touched the three-foot mark on the opening day of Hainan Classic, but steadily increased to lie within the four-to-six foot rage by the third day. Even though there was a slight decline in the
size of waves on offer at Riyue Bay on Saturday, the conditions were still pretty ideal for exciting surfing battles.
After an exciting first Semi-final, the day moved on to the second Semi-final, pitting Bryson against Lacomare in a battle for the coveted Final spot.
The South Africa-based Bryson had advanced through the early rounds of the competition and Quarter-finals quite confidently. The convincing victories in the third round, as well as the Quarter-final was surely going to give his confidence a boost as he stepped
into the Semi-final stage to face his latest challenger, Lacomare.
The Frenchman had been nothing short of impressive during the course of the initial rounds and Quarter-final either. With a handful of heat-wins to his name in the event already, Lacomare was expected to offer a strong challenge to Bryson for a place in
the Final.
As the second Semi-final kicked off, Lacomare got down to business right away, locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 5.00 on the score-board. Reaching the half-way stage, the French surfer added an additional 6.47 points
to his account, taking his heat-total to 11.47 points.
Bryson went through a series of average scores before beginning his charge. Catching his first business-wave in the midway stage of the heat, the South African unloaded a string of impressive tricks, earning an 8.50 for the effort. He followed it up with
yet another exquisite wave, utilising it to add an additional 8.37 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 16.87 points. Finishing 5.40-points ahead of his French rival, Bryson advanced through into the Final.
The inaugural ASP 4-Star Hainan Classic is the second event of the Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival Presented by Quiksilver.
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