Wilkinson, Payne, Andre and Mendes prevail in opening round of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime
Australia’s Matt Wilkinson, his fellow countryperson Dion Atkinson, Hawaii’s Dusty Payne and Germany’s Nic Von Rupp claimed success in their respective Round 1 (Round of 96) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 2013 Quiksilver Saquarema
Prime presented by Coca Cola, which got underway at Itauna beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 22, 2013.
All four surfers consequently advanced to Round 2 (Round of 48) to continue their pursuit for the coveted ASP PRIME ranking points, as well as a share of the hefty prize purse that is on offer.
Australia’s Heath Joske, Portugal’s Marlon Lipke, Brazil’s Jadson Andre and his compatriot Jesse Mendes successfully extended their life in the event as well after securing second place in their respective heats.
The four-to-sixth foot waves on offer at the main event site set up a nice stage for the talented surfers from around the globe to battle it out for survival in the latest ASP Prime event.
Defending event champion Wilkinson got just the result that he was hoping for during the fifth heat of Round 1, which pitted him against Joske, Guadeloupe’s Charles Martin and Brazil’s Halley Batista.
The Australian surfer scored a 7.00 off his first business-wave and backed it up with a 5.93-point ride to register a decisive heat-total of 12.93 points.
“It was really hard and I spent a lot of time waiting for the good sets to come in,” said Matt Wilkinson. “You need a bit of luck to be in the right spot. When a good one finally came, I had to give it my all because you might not get another chance out
there. My goal here is to win the contest again. I didn’t come to lose.”
Joske accompanied him into the next round after registering a two-wave total of 9.63 points.
The sixth heat saw Payne put on one of the best performances of the day to finish on top of his rivals, namely Lipke, Australia’s Nathan Hedge and France’s Adrien Toyon, and consequently advance to the second round.
The Hawaiian surfer capitalised on a great potential scoring opportunity, earning a near-perfect wave-score of 9.27 off it. He went on to add an additional 8.47 points to get to a heat-total of 17.74 points, which remained unbeatable until the end to seal
the fate of the heat in his favour.
Lipke made the Round 2 cut as well after finishing right behind Payne in second place with a heat-total of 12.84 points.
Atkinson finished on top in the seventh heat of Round 1, beating the likes of Andre, France’s Romain Cloitre and Spain’s Gony Zubizarreta, after earning an 8.33 and 4.50 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 12.83 points.
Registering a heat-total of 12.03 points, Andre finished in second place with a heat-total of 12.03 points
Von Rupp walked away victorious from the eight heat after registering a heat-total of 14.27 points, which included an 8.10 and 6.17-point ride.
Mendes joined Von Rupp in the second round after clinching second place, courtesy of a heat-total of 9.50 points.
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