I see Mark McCarthy made it through to the Quarter/Finals
"The first round of the Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge ran today in 4ft conditions, winds were offshore for most of the day with the wind tending southerly for the remaining few heats. All 8 heats were conducted with the standard elimination format, eliminating half of the International field straight up, with only the top two positions progressing through to the quarter finals.
Spectators enjoyed a classic Sydney's winters' day, sunny skies and constant offshore winds, a vast change as to what Sydney has experienced in the past week with raging sea’s and cyclonic winds. The forecasted swell just hung in producing some testing conditions for the 32 riders in the main event.
Stands out during the day were, Cronulla local's John Showell, Dave Ballard, Hawaiian's Jeff Hubbard (current world champion), Dave Hubbard and 9 x World Champion Mike Stewart, Sydney's Northern Beaches Dave Winchester and 2005 world champ Ben Player, Toby Player, Dallas Singer, South African Mark McCarthy, Brad Jackson, Michael Novy, French-man Pierre Costes, Queenslander Nick Ormerod, Port Macquarie's 2 x World Champion Damian King and Sam Bennett who all will progress to the quarter finals come next contestable day.
Defending Champion Ryan Hardy withdrew from the event due to illness; his position was filled by Magno Oliveira who came third in his heat.
Portugal’s Hugo Pinheiro also missed his heat with Michael Honeybone taking his spot. Honeybone surfed strong only to be beaten at the post by Nick Ormerod who took second place.
Another shock exit from the event was Local Alex Leon. Leon’s position was taken by Sydney Northern beaches Ewan Donnachie. Donnachie showed good but came third behind Hawaiian Dave Hubbard.
For more action from today’s heats check out
http://www.coreactiv.com which has a full round by round photo spread of today’s heats"
