Beyrick will be hoping to keep the momentum going after a solid 2013 campaign.
Beyrick De Vries is the sole remaining SA competitor in the 6-Star Hurley Australian Open of Surfing. The Men’s division that is, because Sarah Baum and Bianca Buitendag are yet to get started in the Women’s. They are scheduled to surf when the Round of 48 commences at Manly Beach.
Beyrick, meanwhile, will face the experienced Jeremy Flores (REU), Brazil’s Michael Rodrigues and Puerto Rican charger, Bryan Toth, when Men’s Round of 48 gets underway. He’ll be hoping to kick-start his 2014 WQS campaign with a good result after a solid season last year rocketed him up the rankings.
The waves were pitiful at Manly, sadly, which did not play into the strengths of Dale ‘Ducky’ Staples in his Round of 96 heat yesterday. All competitors have to ride the same dribble though, and Dale lost out to Adriano de Souza (BRA) and Australian, Kai Hing.
Dale couldn’t find the waves to see him advance to the Round of 48.
Also bowing out of competition was WQS rookie, Slade Prestwich, who lost to veterans Fred Patacchia (HAW) and Nathan ‘Hog’ Hedge (AUS), after showing promise in the Round of 144 by beating Dane Reynolds.
In the Women’s division, Faye Zoetmulder was unlucky not to advance to the Round of 48 to meet up with Bianca and Sarah. Faye negotiated her Round of 72 heat with a solid win, but couldn’t find the waves to see her advance through her next heat, finishing third behind Chelsea Tuach (BAR) and Japanese surfer, Nao Omura. Faye grabbed equal 49th and 250 points for making it the Round of 60.
Competitors will be hoping for a rise in swell when competition kicks-off again in Manly.
Follow the event LIVE on http://www.australianopenofsurfing.com
Check out the official press release below.
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FIELD NARROWS AS ROUND 2 OF MEN’S AND WOMEN’S DRAW IS COMPLETED AT THE ASP 6-STAR HURLEY OPEN OF SURFING
Caio Ibelli (BRA) posting a massive 9.40 out of a possible 10, the biggest score of the day.
MANLY BEACH, NSW/AUS (Wednesday, 12th February, 2014) – Small surf once again put the world’s best to the test at the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing at Manly Beach. In today’s conditions most surfers would struggle to get to their feet, but in Round 2 of both the men’s and women’s ASP 6-Star divisions and the Semifinals of the Pro Junior division the surfers put on an impressive hi-fi display for the fans on the beach and online.
Adriano De Souza (Brazil) won the opening heat of the morning at the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing today, with fast and hard power surfing. De Souza is fresh from a great start to his competitive season, finishing 4th at the ASP 5-Star at Pipeline in Hawaii, where the big surf is a stark contrast to today’s tiny conditions.
“It’s great coming from Hawaii to Manly, to be a professional surfer you have to be able to surf in all conditions,” De Souza said. “Summer here in Australia usually has smaller surf than in winter, but it’s good to be here and get used to the smaller waves after three months in Hawaii. Snapper is right around the corner, and I’m doing the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing and Newcastle to get loose and ready for it.”
Conner Coffin (Santa Barbra, CA/USA) and his Californian counterpart Dane Reynolds (Ventura, CA/USA) won through Heat 18 of Round 2 in 1st and 2nd position. Coffin got off to an early lead, while Reynolds snuck into 2nd in the last five minutes of the heat.
“I’ve had a couple heats with Dane (Reynolds) in the past and it’s always rad,” Coffin said. “For some reason the waves are always like this, I feel like we’re always having these weird small wave heats. I’m super stoked to get through that one. It was anyone’s game out there. The game plan was to go out and ride the waves that break, because there wasn’t many of them. I think I only caught two waves and they happened to be good ones.”
Reynolds’ appearance at the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing has attracted a lot of interest from surf fans, media and his fellow competitors. All eyes were on him today to see how he’d handle the tough conditions and he did what he does best, made the most of every section on offer, throwing the tail and carving all the way into the next round.
“It’s cool to get through with Conner, (Coffin) I surf a lot with him at home,” Reynolds said. “The surf was really weak and tough, but everybody has got to surf the same stuff and you just have to make the most of it. I was watching and it looked like the lefts were a bit better, so that’s what I was looking for. Then I went out and got two rights at the start, so it was hard to have a plan.”
Mitch Crews (Gold Coast, QLD/AUS), 2014 ASP World Championship Tour rookie was on point at the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing today, powering his way through the small surf and unloading powerful and progressive turns, winning the heat ahead of Hiroto Arai (JPN), Frederico Morais (PRT) and Takumi Nakamura (JPN) who finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.
“The forecast looks like there will be better waves later in the week – so I really wanted to get through that heat,” Crews said. “I’ve been surfing as much as I can and I’ve been training hard and I’m excited to see how I go this year.”
Ella Williams (NZL) scored an exciting come-from-behind victory in her Round 2 heat at the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing today, jumping from 4th to 1st in the dying stages of her heat. Ella picked off a couple of the longest waves of the heat and carved her way all the way to the shore.
“I’ve been watching all day it looked hard, but I managed to find a few runners,” Williams said. “This event is important for me for this year and I’d really love to progress through a few more rounds and get a good result.”
Kai Hing (Sunshine Coast, QLD/AUS), Hurley Australian Open of Surfing event wildcard scored an epic last minute wave that clocked in at 7.83 out of a possible 10 to jump from 4th to 2nd place and advance into the next round. 16-year-old Hing will now take on Luel Felipe (BRA), Billy Stairmand (NZL) and Alejo Muniz (BRA) when competition resumes.
Defending Hurley Australian Open of Surfing champion in both the pro junior and ASP 6-Star divisions – Matt Banting had a bad day in the office after being eliminated from both divisions. In the Pro Junior Semifinal Banting got into a tangle with his counterpart Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) and both surfers were penalised with an interference.
The Hurley Australian Open of Surfing Pro Junior Finals will run tomorrow with Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) set to take on Jacob Willcox (Margaret River, WA/AUS) in the men’s and Ellie-Jean Coffey (Gold Coast, QLD/AUS) matched up against Bronte Macaulay (Margaret River, WA/AUS) in the women’s.
For more event information log on to www.AustralianOpenofSurfing.com
