Caio Ibelli and Wade Carmichael bounce back in Round 2 of Billabong ASP World Junior Championships
Brazil’s Caio Ibelli and Australia’s Wade Carmichael bounced back from an early stumble during day 1 of Billabong Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Junior Championships by claiming top honours in their respective Round 2 heats on Monday, January
23, at Burleigh Heads in Gold Coast, Australia.
With his victory in the first heat, Ibelli moved into the third round while removing Australia’s Eli Steele from the contention for the event title.
South Africa’s Dale Staples was also forced to make a premature exit from the latest ASP World Junior Tour event after tasting defeat at the hands of Carmichael in the second heat.
Ibelli, the top seed in the event and front-runner for the 2011 ASP World Junior Title, had failed to find a successful result on the opening day of Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, but made a strong comeback in the opening heat of Round 2 on Monday.
With tricky two-foot waves on offer, the Brazilian surfer took on the wildcard entry Steele, in the first man-on-man battle of the event. The match-up was expected to be thrilling as both the surfers needed to win it to stay alive in the competition.
However, Ibelli completely dominated his competitor through an exquisite performance, which featured a mixture of rail carves and big aerials. Collecting a 7.83 and 7.00 off his best-two waves, the Brazilian surfer finished with a heat-total of 14.83 points.
Steele failed to stand up to the onslaught by his rival and eventually finished with a heat-total of 8.17 points, which comprised of a 4.50 and 3.67-point wave. As a result, he was forced to surrender victory to Ibelli, sending the No.1 contender for the
World Junior Title into the next round.
“That heat was hard because it was slow and I was feeling a lot of pressure,” Ibelli conceded during his post-heat interview. “But I started to feel comfortable after getting my first good score, I'm so stoked that I made that heat. Sometimes I don't mind
losing in the first round because it makes me angry and fires me up to do well.”
The second heat featured a huge upset as Carmichael, winner of the Von Zipper Trials, got the better of Staples in the man-on-man battle, sending the latter packing from the competition.
The Australian took control of the heat with an impressive 7.33-point wave in the opening minutes, executing his signature power carves much to the delight of the local crowd. He soon backed it up with a 5.50-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 12.83
points.
In response, Staples only managed to score a couple of fours off his best waves, consequently finishing with a heat-total of 9.10 points. The lacklustre performance proved to be costly for him as he saw the 2011 ASP World Junior Tour come to an end in such
a disappointing fashion for 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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