Yadin Nicol and Jordy Smith prevail in Round 1 heats at Oakley Pro Bali – Surfing news
Australia’s Yadin Nicol and South Africa’s Jordy Smith managed to hold their own during their Round 1 heats at the Oakley Pro Bali, the latest stop on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, which got underway at Keramas
in Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013.
Nicol successfully downed America’s Kolohe Andino and, much to the surprise of everyone, Australia’s Taj Burrow in the third heat of Round 3 to make his way through into the third round. Both his rivals were consequently relegated to Round 2.
Indonesia’s Oney Anwar and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson found themselves taking a trip to Round 2 as well after failing to keep Smith from walking away with the win.
The opening day of the competition promised to deliver a heavy dose of thrilling action, with the waves being as high as chest height. There was just enough juice in them to tempt the surfers into digging deep into their bag of tricks to pull out some of
their most stylish manoeuvres, much to the joy of the huge crowd that was in attendance at the main event venue.
Pitted against the formidable Burrow and young Californian sensation Andino in the third heat, Nicol stared at a daunting battle.
However, the Australian surfer eventually walked away with a comfortable win after putting on a performance. Locking a juicy business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat, he posted an impressive 7.33 on the score-board to grab an early lead and went
on to cement it with an even more impressive 7.23-point ride, thus finishing with a winning heat-total of 14.56 points.
Andino collected a couple of scores in the six-point range to eventually register a two-wave total of 12.93 points, whereas Burrow, who was being considered the favourite to win, ended up finishing in third place after failing to go beyond a heat-total of
12.63 points.
The fourth heat saw Smith claim a comprehensive victory over Anwar and Wilkinson.
The South African surfer adapted to the conditions on hand very well and ended up posting an 8.33 on the score-board in the opening minutes of the heat. He went on to back his solid start with a 7.13-point ride later in the heat, thus finishing with a heat-total
of 15.46 points.
Anwar and Wilkinson finished with a heat-total of 11.93 and 9.03 points respectively. With their scores being well-short of what was required, they found themselves getting relegated to the second round.
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