Lau stars to keep up stellar run of surf form
THE breakout season of Ezekiel Lau has continued, with the Hawaiian notching a dominant win over American Patrick Gudauskas at the Bali Pro.
In onshore but high-performance conditions in Round 2, world No.6 Lau continued his solid form in Heat 10.
Lau’s rail-game was perfectly in synch with the big, open walls of Keramas and saw him post a heat total of 15.57 (out of a possible 20), the highest of the event so far.
Gudauskas was left in a combination situation (needing two new scores) from early in the heat and, unable to hunt it down, was eliminated from the competition.
“My coach told me before that heat that I’m sixth in the world so I just need to surf like I’m sixth in the world,” Lau said. “That definitely gave me confidence and inspired me to put on a solid performance, especially after my first round heat where I didn’t get many opportunities. I was really nervous even with that lead as there was so much time left on the clock and Pat (Gudauskas) is so talented, anything could have happened.”
The opening heat of the day got off to a slow start as Frederico Morais and Ian Gouveia paddled each other off the peak, battling for priority.
Eventually, Morais took control with his trademark power-wraps. Although Gouveia did his best to stay in contention, it was Morais who ended the heat in the progressing spot, leaving Gouveia to end his hope in equal 25th.
“It’s always important to get the first wave of a heat,” Morais said. “I had to settle the nerves and not think about priority, but it can mean you end up off the peak like that.”