Camilo Hernandez and Paulo Moura advance to Arica World Star Tour quarter-finals
Chile’s Camilo Hernandez and Brazil’s Paulo Moura secured their place in the quarter-finals at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 3-Star Maui and Sons Arica World Star Tour after emerging triumphant in their respective Round 4 (Round of 16) heats
that went down at El Gringo in Arica, Chile, on Saturday, June 16.
Australia’s Anthony Walsh finished just below Hernandez in second in the third heat to advance to the next stage of the competition as well. Peru’s Alvaro Malpartida and Mexico’s Angelo Lozano found their impressive run at the event come to an end following
their third and fourth place finish in the heat.
The fourth heat saw Chile’s Cristian Merello secure runner-up place to accompany Moura into the quarter-finals. Peru’s Sebastien Correa finished in third place, while Great Britain’s Tom Butler rounded out the bottom-position to find themselves prematurely
ejected from the competition field.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the primary event site on the latest day of competition turned out to be nothing short of challenging, with three-to-four foot waves breaking real close to the menacing reef break of El Gringo and consequently keeping
the surfers on their toes.
The third heat saw Hernandez continued his impressive run of form at El Gringo to claim yet another win. The Chilean surfer scored a 3.25 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with an impressive 7.75-point ride halfway through the heat to
reach a heat-total of 11.00 points. The score held up until the end to see him through to victory.
Walsh successfully made the quarter-finals cut as well after collecting a 4.50 and 5.80 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 10.30 points.
Malpartida and Lozano rounded out the bottom-two position following their respective heat-totals of 8.55 and 6.50 points, consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
The fourth heat saw Moura put on an impressive performance in the tubular waves on offer. The Brazilian surfer got off to a slow start, but gradually built momentum to earn a 6.50 off his first business-wave. He went on to back it up with a 5.40-point ride
in the dying minutes of the four-man bout to clinch victory and thus move directly into the quarter-finals.
“I'm so stoked, even though my hands are full of holes from the sea urchins,” said Moura. “It was the result of a wave that I finished off right on the rocks. But, I guess its part of the conditions here, which I think is really special in all aspects. I
thought I had lost the heat, but I was able to turn things around on that last wave right at the end of the heat.”
Merello qualified for the quarter-finals as well after securing runner-up position through a heat-total of 11.30 points, which comprised of a 6.90 and 4.40-point wave.
Correa finished in third place with a heat-total of 9.60 points, while Butler rounded out the fourth position after finishing with a two-wave total of 5.65 points. The dismissal efforts resulted in a premature end to the event for the two surfers.
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