Filipe Toledo and Gabe Kling head into the Semi-finals at Burton Toyota Pro – Surfing News
Brazil’s Filipe Toledo and America’s Gabe Kling emerged triumphant in their Quarter-final heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro, part of Newcastle’s Surfest, which went down at New South Wales, Australia, on Sunday,
March 18.
Toledo got the better of America’s Nat Young in the first Quarter-final, while Kling defeated his fellow countryman Geiselman in the second Quarter-final to confirm their place in the Semi-finals.
The level of excitement had risen extremely high as the latest ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) event came down to the crucial Quarter-final stages. The field comprised of in-form surfers from around the globe who were expected to push themselves really
hard as they got closer to the coveted winning prize and ASP rating points which were crucial to their place in the ASP World Title series.
The first Quarter-final pitted Toledo against Young in four-foot waves that were breaking at the primary event site. The encounter was expecting to be nothing short of epic as both the surfers had been in superb form throughout the competition. Young in
particular was oozing with confidence after eliminating Australia’s Taj Burrow, current No.1 in the ASP World Title rankings, to earn his place in the Quarter-finals.
As the battle got underway, the 22-year-old Californian got off to a good start, locking his first business-wave early in the heat to post a 7.23 on the score-board to take an early heat. He remained busy throughout the heat, catching wave after wave before
eventually adding an additional 7.63 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 14.86 points.
Toledo got off to a relatively slower start, but eventually picked up momentum to land a flurry of exquisite tricks on his first business-wave, posting a 9.07 on the score-board. Backing it up with a 7.27-point wave in the dying minutes of the heat, the
Brazilian finished with a heat-total of 16.34 points to walk away with the win.
The second Quarter-final featured an impressive performance by Kling as he took down Geiselman to advance through into the next stage of the competition.
Kling got off to an excellent start, scoring an 8.50 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 7.17-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 15.67 points.
Geiselman failed to standard set by his compatriot in the heat and ended up conceding victory after finishing with a heat-total of 12.37 points, which included a 5.07 and 7.30-point wave.
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