Keanu Asing Beats Kelly Slater After Two Heats Too Many

Two and done. It was a big, dark, closed out Quik one. Ooh, did that make you cringe?

As is typical with beachies, especially French ones, conditions can be a fickle affair–as was exemplified today. Early this morning, Conner Coffin went out and slid into the barrel of (possibly) the whole event, sans singlet. The WSL team were overcome with exhilaration; a day of fabulous surfing was sure to take place! “A look at what we can expect from the day,” said a glowing Rosy Hodge in the Dawn Patrol discussion as they reviewed Conner grabbing his rail, pulling beneath the French steamer, showing face and disappearing three times beneath the hazy emerald curtain. And thus, the WSL overlord, former Pipe Master, and current commish, Sir Kieren Perrow revelled in Conner’s hope. There was swell; it was hollow and according to the man, “It really started to switch on this morning with some great waves coming in. Unfortunately, as soon as we got going sets were washing through and messing up the lineup so we had to call it off.”

Mr Young, peaking out of a quick forehand coverup for a 3.83.

In round one, heat one, Nat Young plucked the wave of the today’s comp with a backside, foamed out cylinder followed by a few quick backhand whips. Joel Parko and Matt Banting struggled to find anything between the mess for a decent score and will head into round two elimination.

“That’s been the story of the morning, there were really good waves out there, it’s just a matter of finding them,” Nat told the WSL. “I started that heat off with a good one pretty much at the start. I knew I just had to back it up cause it’s hard to find a good wave in 30 minutes out there, let alone two. I took out the biggest board I have here; it’s brand new, and I knew it would work.”

Closeouts make for the best imagery, most the time.

The second heat, Kelly after finding a racing closeout on his backhand for a meagre 1.73, immediately followed it up with the highest scoring wave of the heat, a 5.27. It was a backside elevator drop capped off with a few carves through the thickening, wonky lips. Keanu Asing, beat the King with three, respectable but unexciting turns for a total heat score of eight, whimpering past Kelly’s seven.

“It’s nice to finally beat Kelly because I’ve never got him before,” said Mr Asing. “The waves are tricky – it’s tough to even paddle out. If the 11-time World Champion can’t find a 2.00 out there, that says it all. I really just focus on myself and what I need to do to get through heat.”

If anyone loves a powerful beach break barrels it’s Michel Bourez. Here he is after the competition testing how closed out it really was.

Round One Results:
Heat 1: Nat Young 11.00, Joel Parkinson 6.47, Matt Banting 3.43
Heat 2: Keanu Asing 8.00, Kanoa Igarashi, Kelly Slater 7.00, Kanoa Igarashi 1.50
 
Remaining Round One Match-Ups:
Heat 3: Jordy Smith, Jadson Andre, Kai Otton
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson, Miguel Pupo, Leonardo Fioravanti
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina, Dusty Payne, Ryan Callinan
Heat 6: John John Florence, Conner Coffin, Joan Duru
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan, Stuart Kennedy, Jeremy Flores
Heat 8: Italo Ferreira, Wiggolly Dantas, Alex Ribeiro
Heat 9: Julian Wilson, Caio Ibelli, Alejo Muniz
Heat 10: Kolohe Andino, Sebastian Zietz, Jack Freestone
Heat 11: Filipe Toledo, Josh Kerr, Davey Cathels
Heat 12: Adriano De Souza, Michel Bourez, Adam Melling