Ian Gouveia and Eala Stewart move into Arica World Star Tour quarter-finals
Brazil’s Ian Gouveia and Hawaii’s Eala Stewart qualified for the quarter-finals at the latest edition of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 3-Star Maui and Sons Arica World Star Tour after clinching top honours in their respective Round 4 (Round
of 16) heats that went down at El Gringo in Arica, Chile, on Saturday, June 16.
Chile’s Manuel Selman finished in runner-up place in the opening heat of Round 4 to accompany Gouveia into the quarter-finals. Argentina’s Leandro Usuna and Brazil’s Bino Lopes finished in third and fourth place respectively, getting removed from the contention
for the event title as a result.
The second heat sent Argentina’s Lucas Santamaria into the next stage of the competition as he finished just below Stewart in second place. Peru’s Cristobal De Col finished third while Chile’s Leonardo Acevedo rounded out the bottom-position to find themselves
ejected from the competition.
The latest day of Arica World Star Tour saw the competition field comprising of both local and international talent battling the demanding surfing condition. The three-to-four foot waves seemed ideal in theory, but the accompanying winds added an element
of wildness to their nature, thus making them hard to control.
The first heat of Round 4 saw Gouveia make a somewhat commendable effort to adjust to the challenging conditions. Bowing to the tough conditions for most part of the heat, the Brazilian surfer managed to score a 6.35 and 5.45 in the dying minutes for the
heat. The resultant heat-total of 11.80 points served to carry him to victory.
Selman scored a 5.15 off his first business-wave early in the heat and latter added an additional 6.10 points to his account to reach a heat-total of 11.25 points. The score placed him second and thus added him to the quarter-finals line-up.
Usuna finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.45 points, while Lopes rounded out the bottom-position for a two-wave total of 5.55 points. Their dismissal performance brought they stay in the latest ASP star event to a premature end.
The second heat featured an outstanding performance by Stewart as he treated the crowd to some of the most exquisite tricks of the day. The Hawaiian surfer posted a 9.00 on the score-board early in the heat and eventually backed it up with a 6.75-point ride
to finish with a heat-total of 15.75 points. The score earned him a comprehensive victory, carrying him through into the next round.
“I'm so happy to win that heat and get into the Quarters Finals,” said Stewart. “This is my best result so far in an ASP event and I'm really pleased. The waves got a little smaller today (Saturday), but they're still really good. I voted to continue with
the event today, but I respect the majority's decision to hold off the competition until tomorrow.”
Santamaria opened his account with a 7.50-point ride and scored a 4.65 off his second business-wave in the final minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 12.15 points.
De Col and Acevedo finished with a heat-total of 12.00 and 9.00 points respectively, which resulted in their premature ejection from the competition field.
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