Bianca Buitendag and Philippa Anderson advance to the semi-finals at SATA Airlines Azores Pro
South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag and Australia’s Philippa Anderson successfully advanced to the semi-finals at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star SATA Airlines Azores Pro after claiming top honours in their respective quarter-final heats
that went down at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Azores Island, on Saturday, September 29.
Buitendag got the better of Australia’s Nikki Van Dijk in the first quarter-final to secure her place in the next stage of the competition, bringing the contention for the event title to a premature end for her rival in the process.
The second quarter-final saw Australia’s Georgia Fish succumb to her compatriot Anderson, getting eliminated from the competition as a result while sending the latter into the next round.
With two-to-three foot waves breaking at the primary event site, the talent female surfers from around the globe were expected to put on thrilling performances as they sought to confirm their place in the semi-finals.
The first quarter-final pitted Buitendag and Van Dijk each other in a one-one-one battle for the coveted semi-final spot.
As the battle got underway, Buitendag wasted hardly any time to assert her dominance over her rival. Locking a juicy wave in the opening minutes of the heat, she unloaded a series of exquisite tricks to post an 8.00 on the score-board.
Keeping the momentum going, she immediately backed it up with an additional 4.00-point ride, thus reaching a heat-total of 12.00 points.
Van Dijk responded with a couple of scores in the five-point range, thus eventually finishing with a two-wave total of 10.67 points. As a result, she was forced to concede victory and thus the semi-final spot to her rival.
The second quarter-final saw Anderson and Fish squaring-off to decide which of the two Australians got to go in the semi-final stage.
As the heat got underway, Anderson opened her account right away with a 4.50-point ride and went on to back it up with a 5.17-point ride, thus reaching a heat-total of 9.67 points.
Fish collected a 3.50 off her first business-wave and later added another 3.13 points to her account, thus reaching a heat-total of 6.63 points. As a result, she was forced out of the contention for the event title.
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