Final-sixteen decided on day 5 of Breaka Burleigh Pro – Surfing News
The fourth day of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Breaka Burleigh Pro treated the fans to yet another day of breath-taking action at the renowned Burleigh Heads in Queensland, Australia, on Saturday, February 11.
The surfers put on determined performances to stay alive in the competition and make their way through into the Quarter-finals. The two-to-three foot waves on offer at the primary event site presented the contenders with an opportunity to unload some of the more technical tricks in their arsenal as they battled for survival in four-man heats.
While Australian Kieren Perrow and Jack Freestone failed to put a smile on the face of the crowd after succumbing to their competition in their Round 5 heats, the two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning gave locals plenty of reason to cheer their lungs out.
He put on a spectacular performance to post a 14.40 on the scoreboard to prevail over the likes of highly-rated young Brazilian Peterson Crisanto, who collected a 12.90 off his best-two waves to advance through into the Quarter-finals as well.
“I’ve had a bit of time off, missed Pipeline late last year and I’m injury free right now which is great,” said Fanning. ”My fitness is coming together, I’m doing this event to brush the bugs out and I’d say I’m about 90% right now and aiming to be 100% fit right on the Quiksilver Pro in about 12 days.”
Another crowd-favourite Julian Wilson continued his excellent run at Burleigh Heads on Saturday to get the better of fellow countryman Matt Wilkinson with his aerial combos.
The young sensation feels that the current event is an ideal stage to prepare for the 2012 ASP World Tour that will be beginning in Gold Coast in the final week of this month.
While the Australian surfers put on excellent performances, the biggest standout of the day was once again Kolohe Andino. The young American surfer had been making a solid impact since day 1 of the event and seemed to be getting only better with each day.
Even Australia’s Josh Kerr was unable to come up with a suitable response to Andino’s exquisite aerials. The 17-year-old Californian finished with a heat-total of 17.96 against Kerr’s 15.96 to clinch the win.
Breaka Burleigh Pro will resume at Burleigh Heads tomorrow with the Quarter-finals, which will be the final day of the event.
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