Smith, Atkinson and Larsen successful in Round 1 of Vans US Open of Surfing – Surfing news
South Africa’s Jordy Smith, Australia’s Dion Atkinson and Hawaii’s Granger Larsen successfully made it through into the second round (Round of 48) of the Vans US Open of Surfing, fourth of eight events on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)
Prime calendar, after clinching victory in their respective Round 1 (Round of 96) heats that were held at the Huntington Beach Pier in California, America, on Monday, July 22, 2013.
Australia’s Garrett Parkes, America’s Cory Lopez and Basque Country’s Hodei Collazo secured their place in Round 2 as well after claiming second place in their respective Round 1 heats.
The opening day of the competition saw pulsing four-to-six foot waves gracing the primary event site, thus raising expectations among the crowd in attendance and thousands of online viewers for a series of enthralling performances and intense battles.
The 13th heat pitted Smith in a four-man battle against Parkes, his compatriot Nathan Hedge and Brazil’s Heitor Alves.
The South African surfer collected a series of average scores before finding a couple of decent rides to get to a heat-total of 13.20 points. The score kept him in the lead until the end to see him through to victory.
Parkes finished second with a heat-total of 11.97 points, thus making the Round 2 cut as well. Alves and Hedge, however, found themselves removed from the contention for the event title after finishing with a heat-total of 11.94 and 6.70 points respectively.
Atkinson took on Lopez, his compatriot Victor Done and Brazil’s Ricardo Dos Santos in the 14th heat. All four surfers struggled to adapt to the conditions, which had suddenly gone short on generosity.
A heat-total of 10.20 points proved quite sufficient for Atkinson to seal the fate of the battle in his favour, while Lopez claimed second place with a heat-total of 9.84 points.
Done finished in third place with a heat-total of 9.43 points, while Dos Santos finished in fourth place after registering a heat-total of 6.24 points. Both the surfers consequently got eliminated from the competition.
The 15th heat saw Larsen claim a convincing victory over Collazo, America’s Conner Coffin and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson. The Hawaiian surfer pulled-off a series of powerful carves and turns to get to a heat-total of 12.67 points, which proved
to be a winning one.
Collazo registered a heat-total of 8.57 points, which placed him second, while Coffin and Wilkinson finished with a heat-total of 7.53 and 7.24 points respectively, consequently getting forced to make a premature exit from the competition.
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