The Vans World Cup of Surfing is in the process of going off on Oahu’s famed North Shore. In big, shifting conditions, the world’s best surfers tackled Sunset Beach. It’s been two days of spectacular performances, with a few obvious standouts. Dusty Payne has been making his presence known from his first heat. In his match against world number 1, Gabriel Medina, Payne opened up with a seemingly impossible under-the-lip air drop, then drove it home with a some classic power surfing. Medina, while looking sharp on his backhand, wasn’t able to find the bigger waves necessary at an event like Sunset. “It’s always nice to compete with the top dogs,” said Payne in a press release. “Beating Gabe doesn’t really mean anything except I get to cruise to the next round. It doesn’t really mean much. I was just looking to go and try to get two fun waves.”
Although Medina is looking at a world title, he’s not stressing over this event. “No pressure,” he said. “I just want to surf. The surf here is really enjoyable and I just want to have fun. Sunset is a fun wave.”
New Zealand’s Ricardo Christie gave a head-turning performance. During his heat against established veterans Josh Kerr, and Brett Simpson, as well as an on point Seth Moniz, Christie was the clear winner. “I was going with the whole not think about it and then it didn’t really work the last three events,” said Christie. “So I’ve just accepted it and I just have to get through some heats and I still want to just surf every heat as its own. I want to surf like I know I can and not get freaked out and surf like a kook.”
Organizers this morning (December 4th), will assess conditions for a potential final day, but with a building swell in the forecast, it’s possible that they may hold off. Keep up to date at ASPWorldTour.com, and analyze the heats here.
Day 3 Results
Round of 64
H1: Keanu Asing (HAW) 7.77pts ; Ian Walsh (HAW) 5.83pts ; Yadin Nicol (AUS) 2.00pts ; Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 0.50pts
H2: Billy Stairmand (NZL) 11.27pts ; Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.64pts ; Adam Melling (AUS) 9.07pts ; Tom Whitaker (AUS) 4.00pts
H3: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 9.66pts ; Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 9.57pts ; Aritz Aranburu (ESP) 9.40pts ; Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 6.67pts
H4: Chris Ward (USA) 15.33pts ; Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.70pts ; Jeremy Flores (FRA) 7.27pts ; Pancho Sullivan (HAW) 6.16pts
H5: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 12.50pts ; Owen Wright (AUS) 11.10pts ; Mitch Crews (AUS) 10.17pts ; Kaimana Jaquias (HAW) 6.87pts
H6: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.57pts ; Wade Carmichael (AUS) 9.96pts ; Perth Standlick (AUS) 8.60pts ; Nat Young (USA) 7.93pts
H7: Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.93pts ; Davey Cathels (AUS) 7.44pts ; Joan Duru (FRA) 6.83pts ; Jadson Andre (BRA) 6.70pts
H8: Dusty Payne (HAW) 16.17pts ; Gabriel Medina (BRA) 12.17pts ; Dane Gudauskas (USA) 10.73pts ; Connor O’Leary (AUS) 9.04pts
H9: David do Carmo (BRA) 13.36pts ; Mason Ho (HAW) 10.70pts ; Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 7.90pts ; Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 6.47pts
H10: Lucas Silveira (BRA) 11.74pts ; Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 11.53pts ; Kai Barger (HAW) 11.10pts ; Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 4.30pts
H11: Ricardo Christie (NZL) 16.90pts ; Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.83pts ; Seth Moniz (HAW) 11.43pts ; Brett Simpson (USA) 8.17pts
H12: Charles Martin (GLP) 15.00pts ; Alex Smith (HAW) 13.16pts ; Tiago Pires (PRT) 11.37pts ; Bede Durbidge (AUS) 9.33pts
H13: Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.10pts ; Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 8.57pts ; Travis Logie (ZAF) 5.77pts ; Italo Ferreira (BRA) 5.50pts
H14: Granger Larsen (HAW) 12.10pts ; Glenn Hall (IRL) 12.00pts ; Dion Atkinson (AUS) 11.97pts ; Miguel Pupo (BRA) 9.83pts
H15: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 16.84pts ; Garrett Parkes (AUS) 13.43pts ; Kai Otton (AUS) 10.73pts ; Hiroto Arai (JPN) 2.00pts
H16: Matt Banting (AUS) 14.23pts ; Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.90pts ; Isaiah Moniz (HAW) 12.60pts ; Tim Reyes (USA) 11.20pts
