Round 1 of ASP Prime Nike US Open of Surfing see Evan Geiselman and Kai Otton emerge triumphant

Spirited American talent Evan Geiselman and Australian powerhouse Kai Otton claimed top honours in their relative opening round (Round of 96) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime Nike US Open of Surfing that went down at the Huntington Beach in California, America, on Monday, July 30.

America’s Tanner Gudauskas and French Polynesia’s also made it through into the next round of the competition following their runner-up finish in their respective heats, whereas Australia’s Mick Fanning was unable to survive his opening affair.

With some of the best surfers, including ASP World Championship Title contenders, from around the globe in contention for the event title, the atmosphere was electric at Huntington Beach on the opening day of men’s Nike US Open of Surfing.

The very first heat of the event featured a huge upset as Geiselman claimed an exciting win over the former ASP World Champion Fanning, as well as his compatriot Hedge and local force Gudauskas.

Returning from a foot injury, the 18-year-old Geiselman was intent on making his return with a bang and that is exactly what he accomplished to do. Collecting a 7.33 off his first business-wave and adding a 7.53 to his account in the final minutes of the heat, the Florida-based surfer finished with a resultant heat-total of 14.86 points, which served to earn him the win.

“It really couldn’t have worked out any better,” Geiselman said. “I had a great rhythm and I’ve been working so hard to recover. My goal was to be back in time for this event and my doctors said I had no chance. I was so nervous and so anxious even this morning and I’m usually good with that. All the nerves had built up because it’d been two months since I’ve surfed and I’m really happy with that opening heat.”

Gudauskas claimed runner-up place after finishing with a heat-total of 14.20 points, which included a 6.33 and an impressive 7.87-point ride, consequently advancing through into the next round as well.

Hedge finished in third place with a heat-total of 12.77 points, while Fanning was forced to settle for fourth place after scoring a 2.33 and 4.33 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 6.66 points.

The second heat saw Otton prevail over Riou, Reunion Island’s Adrien Toyon and America’s Taylor Knox after finishing with a heat-total of 11.93 points, which comprised of a 6.50 and 5.43-point ride.

Riou was able to extend his life in the competition as well after grabbing second position through a two-wave total of 7.23 points.

Toyon and Knox rounded out the bottom-two positions after finishing with a heat-total of 6.93 and 5.13 points respectively.

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Jul 31 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.