Defending champion Che Allan made an excellent start to his title defence when the Thomo Qualifying Series (QS) 1000 in Memory of Bill Thomson surfing event got under way at the Soup Bowl in Bathsheba on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old Allan, who is the only Barbadian to win at the World Surf League (WSL) level on his home surf, doing so twice, won his heat with wave scores of 5.77 and 7.00 points.
American Giorgio Gomez was second in the heat with scores of 4.23 and 4.50 while Trinidadian Garren Pryce had scores of 4.17 and 4.23, with Laird Myers of the United States earning scores of 2.97 and 3.40.
After gaining a maiden WSL victory in 2016 at the Soup Bowl Pro Junior, now the Live Like Zander Junior Pro, Allan had won the inaugural Thomo QS1000 last year for his first ever qualifying series win. (EZS)
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