Shaun Joubert and Jack Freestone made the Round 5 cut at San Miguel Pro Zarautz
South African surfer Shaun Joubert and Australian young-gun Jack Freestone walked away with top honours from their respective Round 4 (Round of 24) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star San Miguel Pro Zarautz, which continued at
Zarautz in Basque Country, Spain, on Friday, August 31.
America’s Cory Arrambide accompanied Joubert into the fifth round (Round of 16) after finishing behind the latter in runner-up place during the third heat. Chile’s Guillermo Satt got ejected from the contention for the event title after failing to land a
place in top-two positions.
The fourth heat saw Freestone grab the win, while Brazil’s Hizunome Bettero joined him in the next round after finishing in second place. France’s Marc Lacomare was forced to make a premature exit from the competition after having to settle for third place.
The latest day of the competition saw strong onshore winds along with three-to-four foot waves breaking at the main event site as the up-and-coming talent took each other on in three-man battles for survival.
Pitted against Arrambide and Satt in the third heat, Joubert got off to a slow start, apparently struggling to adept to the conditions. The South African surfer went through a series of average scores before eventually posting a 5.10 off his first business-wave.
He immediately followed it up with a 7.10-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 12.20 points.
Arrambide made the Round 5 cut as well as he finished with a heat-total of 11.50 points, which included a 7.33 and 4.17-point ride.
Satt was unable to survive the heat after finishing with a heat-total of 9.06 points, which included a 3.23 and 5.83-point ride.
The fourth heat saw Freestone walk away with the win after getting the better of Bettero and Lacomare in a three-man affair.
The Australian surfer scored a 7.00 off his first business-wave and went on to add an additional 8.17-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 15.17 points.
Bettero scored a 7.10 off his first business-wave and backed it up with a 5.33 off his second business-wave, thus moving into the next round.
Lacomare got off to an impressive start, earning a 7.77 off his first business-wave, but only managed to add an additional 3.30 points off his second-best wave, thus finishing with a heat-total of 11.07 points. As a result, he was eliminated from the competition.
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