Arashi Kato and Jack Freestone dominant in Round 3 of Billabong ASP World Junior Championships
Japan’s Arashi Kato and Australia’s Jack Freestone won their respective Round 3 heats as the Billabong Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Junior Championships resumed at the iconic Burleigh Heads in Gold Coast, Australia, on Thursday, January
26.
The successful result in their Round 3 heats carried both Kato and Freestone into the fourth round, while bringing the competition to a premature end for Woods and Robinson.
After going through a lay day on Wednesday due to the lack of decent waves on offer, the third round of the event resumed on Thursday in three-foot waves and on-shore conditions.
The third heat saw Kato adjust to the conditions exceptionally well to get the better of Woods. The Japanese surfer got off to a slow start before beginning his charge in the final minutes of the battle. He caught his first business-wave to post a 5.93 on
the score-board and immediately followed it up with a 7.50 point wave to eventually finish with a heat-total of 13.43 points.
Woods, who had been really impressive on the opening day of Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, failed to make much of an impact in his latest heat and apparently succumbed to the conditions completely. Despite a long and determined hunt, he was only
able to collect a 4.20 and 5.10-point wave off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 9.30 points. The lacklustre effort forced him to concede a rather easy victory to Kato, thus sending the latter into the next round.
The fourth heat featured an exhilarating performance by Freestone, the reigning ASP World Junior champion. He held nothing back as he took on Robinson, pulling off aerials and gouging carves to collect a couple of nines to eventually finish with an intimidating
two-wave total of 18.00 points.
Robinson, in response, finished with a mere heat-total of 7.10 points, which comprised of a 3.10 and 4.00-point wave. As a result, it turned out to be a dominant win for Freestone, just what he needed as he made his way into the fourth round.
“I was feeling a bit nervous going up against Jack [Robinson], because I know what he's capable of,” Freestone said. “It was fun to have a heat with him, I've been watching him since he was 10-years-old and I think he's a great surfer. I was excited about
the heat too, because there's been a lot of talk in the last few days and I really wanted to get out there and try to beat him.”
The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships Gold Coast in the third and final event of ASP World Junior Tour and will determine the men’s and women’s 2011 ASP World Junior Champion.
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