Adam Robertson and Kai Otton secure a spot in Saquarema Surf Pro International’s round of 12
The surfing action continued at the Itauna beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the seventh and eighth heat of Saquarema Pro International’s round of 24 on Saturday, May 28th. Australia’s Adam Robertson bested Japanese surfer, Masatoshi Ohno,
in the seventh heat, while Australia’s Kai Otton prevailed over his compatriot, Shaun Cansdell, in the eighth heat to advance to the round of 12.
Mother-nature was not showing any cooperation to the fourth stop of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event at all. While there had been low tides and offshore winds for the past few days, Saturday brought stormy and wet weather conditions
to Itauna.
The waves, which started off at six-foot in the morning, kept on rising as the day progressed. The surfers were getting a tough time from the challenging conditions and rising tides. However, they had no choice but to somehow make peace with the weather
and rising tides and come up with a decent performance to stay in contention for the event title.
Australia’s Robertson remained impressive in his heat against Ohno. Almost half-way through the wave, he caught a wave to pull off some impressive manoeuvres. The wave earned 6.33 points to put him in the lead. He later followed it up with an even better
wave, scoring 7.00 off it to eventually finish with a heat total of 13.33.
Japan’s Ohno did not start off too badly either, getting 5.93 early in the heat. He required 7.06 off his second wave to best his Australian rival. Unfortunately for him, he only managed to earn 6.27 and ended up losing by 1.13. This allowed Robertson to
advance to the next stage of the event, while eliminating Ohno from the event.
In the heat that followed, Australia’s Otton battle against his compatriot, Cansdell, for survival. Only one of them could advance to the next round, while the other was not going to remain in the competition any longer. Otton got off to an excellent start
early on, getting 7.33 off his first waves. He then posted a score of 6.70 for a total of 14.03 off his two waves.
Cansdell only managed to catch a few waves. He earned a 5.67 off his first wave. Requiring 7.21 off his second wave, he still saw some hope. However, he only managed to earn 6.83 off his second wave to lose to the Australian by 1.53 points.
The close finish went in Otton’s favour, securing a place for him in the next round, while eliminating Cansdell from the 2011 edition of the Saquarema Pro International.
Otton and Robertson will be advancing to the round of 12 now, where they will battle against other surfers for a place in the semi-finals.
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