The ASP 5-Star Oakley Pro Junior quarter-finals concludes – Surfing News
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 5-Star Oakley Pro Junior continued with the quarter-finals taking place on Friday, May 6, at the Lower Trestles, California.
The Oakley Pro Junior is the seventh of the nine stops of ASP North America Pro Junior Series. One of the highest rated competitions on the current year’s regional series, there is a prize purse of $25,000 on offer, along with the most points for the surfer’s
campaign towards the qualification for the high-status ASP World Junior Tour.
The field for the event had attracted the top up-and-coming surfers from all around the world. However, only eight surfers remained in the title pursuit by Friday afternoon, ready to face each other to secure a place in the semi-final.
The first heat of the quarter-final featured Hawaii’s Dylan Goodale taking on the American Taylor Brothers, Luke Davis and Taylor Thorne. All four surfers struggled to find a good wave, which resulted in a low scoring contest. Goodale managed to walk away
victorious from the battle with a two-wave score of 10.77, while Brother, Davis and Thorne ended the heat with 9.97, 9.17 and 8.07, respectively. The Hawaiian became the first surfer to advance to the semi-final.
In the second heat of the day, the sensational Kolohe Andino from America went against the renowned young-gun from Australia, Jack Freestone, as well as America’s Evan Geiselman and Doug Van Mierlo. After a rather disappointing first heat of the quarter-final,
the second heat turned out to be more exciting. With the tides becoming more co-operative, the surfers managed to grab better waves to pull-off impressive manoeuvres. Andino edged past his rivals, earning a score of Freestone’s 14.00, Geiselman’s 13.06 and
Mierlo’s 9.86, to progress to the next stage of the event.
California-based Andino, while speaking after the heat, said, “Evan is one of my best friends, so I wish he got through and Jack (Freestone) has been ripping so it was a fun heat. It was the first time the three of us have surfed against each other. Jack
beat me in Bali. He was getting barreled and I was sitting out on the shoulder, so it's good to get one back on him here.”
The third heat pitted four Americans against each other. It featured Nat Young, Andrew Doheny, Dane Zaun and Frederico Morais in an intense battle. Young proved to be too much for his rivals, who ended up surrendering victory to him. He earned himself a
final score of 14.00 after two heats, to beat Doheny’s 12.53, Zaun’s 10.26 and Morais’s 8.63.
In the final heat of the day, Hawaii’s Keanu Asing went against American Conner Coffin, Victor Done and Jacob Halstead. Coffin earned a score of 10.63, while Done and Halstead secured 10.14 and 6.87, respectively. Asing prevailed over his competitors with
a score of 12.60, to secure a berth in the semi-final.
The winners of the quarter-finals will be facing each other in the semi-finals of the event.
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