Julian Wilson and John John Florence advance to Mr. Price Pro Ballito semifinals
The third and fourth quarter-final of Mr. Price Pro Ballito went down at the Surfers Beach in Ballito, South Africa, on Saturday morning, July 9th.
The third quarter-final saw Australia’s Julian Wilson take on and defeat his compatriot, Heath Joske, to advance to the semi-finals.
Hawaii’s John John Florence dominated the fourth quarter-final to take down Australia’s Blake Thornton and make his way confidently into the semi-final stage.
The seventh Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year, Mr. Price Pro Ballito, had turned out be extremely exciting, with the talented ASP surfers from all around the globe converging at Surfers Beach in Ballito to surf, in what were
without any doubt, some of the best conditions that had graced a competition in a long time. The fans were treated to some high-level surfing and breath-taking stunts over the last five days of the event, and the quarter-finals were keeping the action going.
The third quarter-final featured yet another wonderful performance by Australia’s Wilson. Despite his bad start to the season, he had bounced back strongly and had been a force to be reckoned with in all recent ASP Prime events, even winning the Quiksilver
Pro Portugal in Ericeira last month.
Continuing his excellent form in his latest battle, he started things off perfectly, locking a wave to collect a near-perfect 9.80 out of possible 10 to put his countryman, Joske, under immense pressure. Adding a 6.23 to his account later in the heat, he
moved to a heat-total of 16.03 points, which eventually carried him off to victory.
Joske had started well, scoring 8.87 off his first wave, but soon he was penalised for interference and the rest of his scores were not counted. This sure was an unfortunate finish to what had been an excellent campaign by the Australian.
The final quarter-final turned out to be a one-man show with Hawaii’s Florence stealing the spotlight with his marvellous performance. He remained as merciless to Australia’s Thornton during the battle as possible, eventually eliminating his rival from the
competition.
Starting things off with a grand 9.77-point wave, he continued his rampage by adding an additional 9.63 to his account, reaching an outstanding two-wave total of 19.40. Naturally, Thornton was unable to rise up to the tough challenge and finished with a
total of 9.34 points, which comprised of a 6.67 and 2.67-point wave.
With Wilson and Florence advancing to the semi-finals, the field for the next stage was complete. The battle for a spot in the final was expected to be nothing less than intense, as all four semi-finalists had proved their excellent forms over the course
of the event.
For updates on the semi-finals of Mr. Price Pro Ballito, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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