Simao Romao and Cahill Bell-Warren clinch victory in Round 1 at San Miguel Pro Zarautz
Brazil’s Samoa Romao and Australia’s Cahill Bell-Warren managed to survive the second day of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star San Miguel Pro Zarautz after clinching top honours in their respective Round 1 (Round of 144) heats that went down at the main event site of Zarautz in Basque Country, Spain, on Wednesday, August 29.
Local talent Norman Landau and Brazil’s Sidney Guimaraes were able to get themselves added to the Round 2 line-up as well after securing second-place finish in their respective heats.
With the tide continuing to rise, the surfers found themselves staring in the face of even greater challenge of earning a couple of good scores. The conditions were looking intimidating and were expected to put the perseverance and skills of the young talent to test.
The 23rd heat of Round 1 saw Romao square-off with Landau, Peru’s Miguel Tudela and French Polynesia’s Enrique Ariitu in a four-man battle for survival.
The Brazilian surfer seemed to have come prepared to take the challenging waves head-on and that is exactly what he did. Showing immense amount of energy and resilience, Romao managed to find himself a couple of scores in the five-point range to reach a heat-total of 10.97 points. The score was a pretty decent one, considering the conditions on hand. Remaining unbeatable until the end, it served to earn him the win.
Landa got off to a good start, opening his account with a 6.17-point ride. However, he struggled to find himself another decent score as the heat progressed and eventually had to settle for a 3.23 off his second business-wave in the final minutes of the heat. The combined wave-total of 9.40 points still got him to second place and therefore sent him through into the next round.
Tudela and Ariitu finished with a heat-total of 8.00 and 4.30 points respectively, which resulted in their early elimination from the competition.
The final heat of the day saw Bell-Warren grab the win despite the conditions becoming extremely tough to surf in. Pitted against Guimaraes, Venezuela’s Victor Pinang De No and Great Britain’s Dane Hall, the Australian surfer collected a 6.17 and 5.43 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 11.60 points, which carried him off to victory.
Guimaraes successfully survived the challenging conditions as well after managing to secure runner-up place through a heat-total of 9.67 points, which included a 5.00 and 4.67 points.
De No and Hall were forced to make a premature exit from the competition after registering a heat-total of 4.83 and 3.76 points respectively.
Tags: