Arashi Kato and Tylah Hutchinson advance to Round 3 of CHIKO Pro Junior in Merewether – Surfing News
Japan’s Arashi Kato and Australia’s Tylah Hutchinson walked away with top honours from their respective Round 2 (Round of 96) heats of CHIKO Pro Junior at Newcastle’s Surfest that went down at Merewether in New South Wales, Australia, on Thursday, March
8.
The latest event on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Men’s Junior Qualifying series placed the young talent from around the world in challenging six-foot waves. The surfers had already proved their mettle in numerous surfing spots
around the world and were expected to somehow adjust to surfing conditions prevailing at Merewether as well, though the task was not expected to be easy.
As the second round of CHIKO Pro Junior continued on Thursday, the surfing fans witnessed a four-man battle featuring Kati in a battle with his fellow countrymen Hiroto Arai and Taishi Kawabata, along with Australia’s Luca Elder.
Kato was the only surfer of the lot who seemed relatively at ease during the course of the heat. Pulling on a series of exquisite combination of tricks on his two business-waves, the Japanese reached a heat-total of 12.05 points, which served to move him
in the lead. The lead held up until the end to eventually earn him top honours, moving him into Round 3 (Round of 64).
Arai advanced through into the next round as well after finishing with a heat-total of 9.00 points to secure runner-up place.
Kawabata rounded out the third position with two-wave total of 5.80 points, while Elder finished in fourth place with a heat-total of 5.65 points. Both the surfers were forced to exit the competition due to their lack-lustre performance.
The fourth heat of Round 2 saw Hutchinson outperforming his competitors quite comprehensively, getting to a heat-total of 13.50 points off his best-two waves. His impressive performance served to carry him through into the next round.
Australia’s Hamish Renwick also made the Round 3 cut after finishing the heat with a two-wave total of 8.75 points.
Australia’s Jake Cumberland finished third with a heat-total of 7.00 points, while his compatriot Michael Bain rounded out the bottom position with 4.50 points to finish in fourth place. Both the surfers consequently got eliminated from the competition.
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