Eala Stewart and Anthony Walsh emerge victorious in semi-finals at Arica World Star Tour
Hawaii’s Eala Stewart and Australia’s Anthony Walsh secured their place in the Final at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 3-Star Maui and Sons Arica World Star Tour after emerging triumphant in their respective semi-final heats that went down at the reef break of El Gringo in Arica, Chile, on Sunday, June 17.
Stewart managed to get the better of Argentina’s Lucas Santamaria in the first Semi-final to secure his place in the Final, bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival in the process.
Chile’s Cristian Merello succumbed to Walsh in the second Semi-final, owing to a phenomenal performance put on by the latter as he made his way towards victory and hence secured his place in the Final.
The final day of Arica World Star Tour saw barrelling conditions with the waves lying in the four-to-six foot range. With the most in-form surfers competing for a place in the finals, the crowd expected to get treated to nothing but the most enthralling surfing action for the next few hours.
The first Semi-final pitted Stewart against Santamaria in a man-on-man battle to get their hands on a title shot.
As the battle got underway, Stewart got off to a shaky start, apparently struggling to find his rhythm during his latest challenge. He eventually managed to register a 2.90 and 4.50-point wave to reach a heat-total of 7.40 points.
Santamaria completely succumbed to the demanding conditions at hand. The Argentina-based surfer scored a 1.35 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with a 2.00-point ride to finish with a heat-total of 3.35 points. The lacklustre performance led to his elimination from the competition field.
The second Semi-final pitted Walsh and Merello against each other. The battle turned out to be completely one-sided, with the Australian surfer making his determination apparent through a charged-up performance. Locking his first business-wave early in the heat, Walsh posted a near-perfect 9.60 on the score-board. Adding an additional 7.50 points to his account in the dying minutes of the heat, the Australia-based surfer got to a heat-total of 17.10 points.
Merello scored a 2.25 and 3.50 off his best-two waves to reach a heat-total of 5.75 points. The lacklustre performance by the local talent led to his elimination from the competition.
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