Thomas Woods and Royden Bryson survive Round 2 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Australia’s Thomas Woods and South Africa’s Royden Bryson walked away with top honours from their Round 2 (Round of 96) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest that continued to deliver a heavy
dose of thrilling action at Merewether Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Wednesday, March 14.
The successful heats carried both Woods and Bryson into the third round (Round of 48) of the event. Hawaii’s Olamana Eleogram and Australia’s Tim Macdonald also advanced through into the next round after due to their runner-up finish in the 13th
and 14th heat respectively.
With a heavy talent-pool gathered at the primary event site to compete for the coveted prize money and ASP rating points on offer, the latest ASP 6-Star event promised a series of thrilling battles. The surfing conditions on day 3 of the event were pretty
decent, with the size of the waves averaging between two-to-three feet.
The 13th heat turned out to be an intense affair with both Woods and Eleogram fighting tooth and nail for the top honours.
The Hawaiian surfer took an early lead with a 6.60-point wave and held it for a while as Woods only managed to score a 5.80 off his first business-wave.
As the heat progressed, Woods collected a 7.50 off his second business-wave to edge past Eleogram on the score-board with a heat-total of 13.30 points. The latter put in a determined effort to get hold of the lead again, but to no avail. Adding an additional
6.50 points to his account off his final wave, Eleogram was forced to settle for runner-up place.
Brazil’s Caio Ibelli finished in third place with a heat-total of 12.64 points, while America’s Damien Hobgood rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 10.80 points. Both the surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The 14th heat saw Bryson get the better of Macdonald, Brazil’s Marco Fernandez and Hawaii’s Mason Ho in a four-man battle for the Round 3 spot.
The South African surfer opened his account with a 6.60-point wave and went through a series of average wave-scores before collecting a 5.70-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 12.30 points.
Macdonald successfully kept himself alive in the competition after securing runner-up place through an 11.67-point wave, which included a 5.17 and 6.50-point wave.
Fernandez and Ho were forced to make a premature exit from the competition after finishing with a heat-total of 7.93 and 6.97 points respectively.
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