Eala Stewart and Brad Ettinger advance to Round 3 at Arica World Star Tour – Surfing News
Hawaii’s Eala Stewart and America’s Brad Ettinger advanced to Round 3 (Round of 32) at Arica World Star Tour presented by Maui and Sons, a 3-Star Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) event, after putting on superb performances to claim top honours
in their respective Round 2 (Round of 64) heats at El Gringo in Arica, Chile, on Wednesday, June 13.
Argentina’s Lucas Santamaria finished just behind Stewart in second place during the first heat of Round 1 to advance into the next round of the competition. Brazil’s Wiggolly Dantas finished third, while Puerto Rico’s Wesley Toth rounded out the bottom
position. Both the surfers were forced to exit the competition field as a result.
The second heat saw Brazilian’s Caue Wood accompany Ettinger into the next round after securing runner-up finish. Chile’s Juan Carlo Lombardi and his fellow countryperson Alejandro Satt failed to make the Round 2 cut after finishing in third and fourth place
respectively.
With demanding surfing conditions prevailing at the main event site, the young talent found themselves facing a tough challenge of finding big scores. However, the $55,000 prize money and ASP ranking points was expected to serve as an effective motivation
that would drive the surfers to push the limits.
The first heat of Round 2, Stewart read the waves on offer exceptionally well to put on a phenomenal performance and completely dominate his rivals. Halfway through the heat, he got hold of an 8.50-point ride and managed to back it up with a near-perfect
9.50-point wave in the final minutes of the heat to get to a heat-total of 18.00 points.
Santamaria was unable to threaten his Hawaiian rival’s score, but did ensure his survival in the competition field by securing runner-up place through a heat-total of 12.00 points, which included a 4.75 and 7.25-point ride.
Dantas and Toth finished in second and third place respectively, consequently getting removed from the latest ASP 3-Star event.
The next heat featured yet another outstanding performance, this time Ettinger coming under the spotlight. The American surfer opened his account with an impressive 7.00-point ride and managed to back it up with a 9.15-point ride in the dying minutes of
the minutes to reach a heat-total of 16.15 points, consequently walking away with the win.
Wood collected a couple of scores in the three-point range for a heat-total of 6.50 points. The score served to earn him a place in the next round.
Lombardi and Satt finished with a heat-total of 5.80 and 4.00 points respectively. The lacklustre performances resulted in their ejection from the contention for the event title.
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