Malia Manuel and Lakey Peterson kick-off Nike US Open of Surfing with successful heats

Hawaii’s Malia Manuel and America’s Lakey Peterson made their way through into the third round at The Nike US Open of Surfing, the final stop on the 2012 Women’s Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after claiming top honours in their respective Round 1 heats that went down at Huntington Beach in California, America, on Tuesday, July 31.

America’s Courtney Conlogue and New Zealand’s Sarah Mason finished behind Manuel in second and third place respectively during the first heat, consequently getting relegated to Round 2.

The second heat saw America’s Sage Erickson finish behind Peterson in second place, while Australia’s Tyler Wright finished third. Both the surfers were forced to take a trip to the relegation round as a result.

The surfing conditions prevailing at the primary event site turned out to be pretty good, with high-performance waves on offer for the elite female surfers to capitalise on.

The opening heat of the competition saw Manuel, current No.7 on the Women’s ASP World Tour, take on Conlogue and Mason in a battle for a direct Round 3 place without having to face the pressure of the second round. The 18-year-old Hawaiian got down to business right away, posting a 7.33 on the score-board in the opening minutes of the heat and immediately went on to back it up with a 6.70-point ride, thus finishing with a resultant and decisive heat-total of 14.03 points.

“Getting that Round 1 win is extremely crucial because in Round 2 anything can happen, especially out here,” Manuel said. “That Round two is do or die and I’m relieved to get 1st heat out of the way, so I’m very happy. The rookie of the year award is on my mind even though I’m trying not to think about it. It’d be amazing especially since women’s surfing has come such a long way. We’ll just see what happens, but it would be an extreme honor.”

The 19-year-old Conlogue finished with a heat-total of 12.74 points, which included a couple of scores in the six-point range. Mason, on the other hand, only managed to earn a 5.33 and 5.67 off her best-two waves for a heat-total of 11.00 points.

The second heat featured a remarkable performance by Peterson as she made her way to victory. The American surfer made the most of her local knowledge of the waves to get her hands on two of the best waves in the heat. Earning a 7.00 and 8.60 off her best-two waves, she finished with a winning heat-total of 15.60 points.

Erickson and Wright finished with a heat-total of 13.67 and 11.27 points respectively, which forced them to surf again for a place in the third round of the competition.

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Aug 2 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.