Arashi Kato and Nathan Hedge qualify for the Murasaki Quiksilver Jeju Open of Surfing semi-finals
Japan’s Arashi Kato and Australia’s Nathan Hedge qualified for the semi-finals at the inaugural Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 2-Star Murasaki Quiksilver Jeju Open of Surfing after walking away with top honours from their respective quarter-final
heats that went down at Jungmun Beach in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, on Saturday, June 16.
Kato got the better of his fellow countryperson Kento Takahashi in the first Quarter-final to advance to the next stage of the competition while removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
The second Quarter-final saw Japan’s Jun Shiiba bow out to Hedge, consequently finding himself removed from the competition field while paving way for his rival to step into the semi-finals.
The first-ever ASP-sanctioned event in the region invited some of the most promising up-and-coming talent from around the globe, offering them an opportunity to get their hands on a winning prize of $US5, 000 and up to 500 ASP ranking points. The conditions
at the primary event site turned out to be quite ideal, with two-foot waves and a sunny weather providing a perfect canvas for the surfers to go all out.
The first Quarter-final saw Kato and Takahashi take each other on in a man-on-man battle for the semi-final spot.
Both the surfers got off to a modest start, but seemed to be building momentum as the heat progressed. In the later stages of the bout, Kato locked a relatively juicy wave to score a 7.00 off it. He followed it up with an 8.75-point ride in the dying minutes
of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 15.75 points.
Takahashi made a late charge as well, getting his hands on a 6.10 and 7.50-point wave in the final minutes of the heat. The effort proved inadequate, putting him in a 2.15-point deficit and consequently forced him to concede victory to Kato.
The second Quarter-final featured an intense battle as both Hedge and Shiiba fought tooth-and-nail to get their hands on the win.
Hedge opened his account with a 5.75-point ride in the opening minutes of the heat and later added an additional 6.25 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 12.00 points.
Shiiba got off to a threatening start, earning 7.25 points off his first business-wave. However, he failed to collect another good score and only managed to add an additional 4.50 points to his account, thus finishing with a heat-total of 11.75 points. The
0.25 points resulted in his elimination from the competition.
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