Sam Wrench and Matt Banting emerge triumphant in Round 1 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Australia’s Sam Wrench and Matt Banting clinched top honours in the respective Round 1 (Round of 144) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest that continued at Merewether Beach in New South Wales,
Australia, on Monday, March 12.
The success in Round 1 served to carry both Wrench and Banting into the next round (Round of 96), while their fellow countryman Dale Lovelock and Brazil’s Jano Belo also managed to extend their life in the event by securing runner-up positions in the 11th
and 12th heat respectively.
Despite tricky three-foot waves on offer at the event site, the opening day of the latest event in the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) gave the surfers sufficient opportunity to put on solid performances while pursuing the coveted prize money and ASP rating
points.
Wrench adapted exceptionally well to the surfing conditions on Monday and landed a performance that earned him a convincing victory over his compatriot Lovelock, Brazil’s Messias Felix and Hawaii’s Kevin Sullivan.
The Australian surfer collected a 6.33 off his first business-wave early in the heat and soon backed it up with a 6.23-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 12.56 points.
Lovelock advanced through into the next round of the event as well after scoring a 3.83 and 6.60 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 10.43 points, which proved sufficient to earn him a place in the next round.
Felix and Sullivan rounded out the third and fourth positions respectively, with the Brazilian finishing with a heat-total of 9.50 points while the latter scoring a 3.17 and 2.57 off his top-two waves for a heat-total of 5.74 points. Both the surfers were
consequently eliminated from the competition.
The 12th heat saw Banting downing fellow countryman Brent Savage, Portugal’s Filipe Jervis and Brazil’s Belo in the four-man battle to confirm his place in the next round.
The in-form Australian surfer scored a couple of scores in the five-range to finish with a heat-total of 11.10 points, which held up until the end to carry him through into the next round.
Belo successfully made the Round 2 cut as well after scoring a 3.70 and 5.83 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 9.53 points.
Jervis barely missed out on the runner-up place after finishing with a heat-total of 9.33 points, while Savage rounded out the fourth position after scoring an over-all score of 9.10 off his top-two waves. Both the surfers were forced to make a premature
exit from the competition.
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