Cristian Merello and Anthony Walsh power into semi-finals at Arica World Star Tour – Surfing News
Chile’s Cristian Merello and Australia’s Anthony Walsh qualified for the semi-finals at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 3-Star Maui and Sons Arica World Star Tour after claiming top honours in their respective quarter-finals that went down
at El Gringo in Arica, Chile, on Sunday, June 17.
Merello took a convincing victory over his fellow countryperson Camilo Hernandez in the third Quarter-final to advance to the next stage of the competition while bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival.
The fourth Quarter-final saw Brazil’s Paulo Moura completely succumb to his rival Walsh, consequently getting eliminated from the competition while sending the latter into the semi-finals.
With four-to-six foot waves breaking at the menacing reef break of El Gringo on the final day of the competition, the day promised to deliver a heavy dose of enthralling action. There was plenty of opportunities for the local and international talent to
put their skills on display in the conditions on hand, though it required patience and proper selection of waves.
The third Quarter-final turned out to be a local affair, with Merello taking on Hernandez. The latter in particular had been in a phenomenal form over the last few days, though Merello was not in a shabby form either.
As the battle got underway, Merello got down to work early in the heat and wasted little time to post a 6.25 on the score-board. After a long and determined hunt, he managed to find a 7.00-point wave, thus finishing with a heat-total of 13.25 points.
Hernandez got off to a promising start, earning a 6.50 off his first business-wave, but struggled to find another decent wave. Managing to score a mere 3.90 off his second business-wave, Hernandez finished 2.85 points short of the required score, consequently
conceding victory and thus the semi-final score to his rival.
The battle for the last remaining slot in the semi-finals went down between Walsh and Moura.
As the man-on-man battle got underway, the Australian surfer wasted little time to paddle towards an approaching barrel and ride it cleanly to earn a 9.75 off it. He later added an additional 8.35 points to his account, thus finishing with a heat-total of
18.10 points.
Moura failed to threaten his rival’s score at any point in the heat, scoring a mere 3.25 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 7.50-pont ride later in the heat for a combined wave-total of 10.75 points. The dismissal effort forced him to surrender
the semi-final spot to his rival.
Tags: