Evan Geiselman and Billy Stairmand advance to Australian Open of Surfing Semi-finals – Surfing News
America’s Evan Geiselman and New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand won their respective Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Australian Open of Surfing Quarter-finals that went down at Manly Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Sunday, February 19.
The two-foot waves and light on-shore winds prevailing at the primary event site kept challenging the surfers as they looked to extend their life in the event by securing a spot in the Semi-finals.
The first Quarter-final of the day pitted Geiselman against Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro in a battle for survival. Both the surfers had exhibited a deadly form over the last few days of the competition and the surfing fans expected nothing short of fireworks during
the course of the heat.
As the first Quarter-final got underway, Ribeiro drew first blood with a 3.67-point wave. Geiselman, on the other hand, attacked his first wave quite energetically and landed a series of exquisite tricks to post a 7.17 on the score-board.
As the heat progressed, the Brazilian added an additional 7.90 to his account, taking his heat-total to 11.57 points. However, Geiselman edged past him on his last wave after earning a 6.33 off it to take his heat-total to 13.50 points.
The action continued at Manly Beach with the second Quarter-final, featuring a man-on-man battle between Stairmand and Australia’s Adrian Buchan.
With most of the top seeds succumbing to the relatively inexperienced and young talent, Buchan had done exceptionally well to reach the Quarter-finals. However, Stairmand brought his rival’s excellent run at Australian Open of Surfing to an end by defeating
him in the battle for the Semi-final spot.
As Quarter-final 2 kicked off, Stairmand got off to a promising start with a 5.57-point wave. Buchan responded strongly with a 6.50-point wave to take the lead and enjoy an early advantage.
Almost half-way through the heat, the Kiwi surfer locked a juicy wave to unload a combination of manoeuvres on it to earn a 9.33 for the effort, taking his heat-total to 14.90 points.
Buchan needed to score big off his second business-wave to take the win. Adding a 6.93 to his account, the Australian finished with a heat-total of 13.43 points. The 1.47-point deficit forced him to surrender victory to Stairmand, sending the latter into
the next stage of the competition.
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