Julian Wilson and Michel Bourez secure place in quarter-finals at Oakley Pro Bali – Surfing news
Australia’s Julian Wilson and French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez managed to walk away victorious from their respective Round 4 heats at the Oakley Pro Bali, the fifth of ten stops on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour,
which continued at Keramas in Bali, Indonesia, on Wednesday, June 26, 2013.
Wilson secured his place in the quarter-finals by getting the better of his fellow countryperson Mick Fanning and America’s Nat Young in the third heat, consequently sending both his rivals into the fifth round, where they were to surf again to earn their
place in the quarter-finals.
Bourez claimed an impressive win over Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia and Brazil’s Adriano de Souza in the fourth heat to step into the quarter-finals. Both his rivals, on the other hand, found themselves relegated to Round 5.
Excellent six-to-eight foot waves were on offer at the main event site on the latest day of the Oakley Pro Bali, promising to deliver a heavy dose of thrilling action and unforgettable performances. The crowd was well aware of the big-wave riding prowess
of some of the surfers that were still in contention for the event title and thus expected to get treated to some unforgettable scenes.
The third heat of Round 4 saw Wilson lock horns with Fanning, former two-time ASP World Champion, and Young.
As the battle got underway, the 24-year-old Australian surfer showed a great deal of experience as he made superior wave selections to unload a series of powerful carves and turns.
Earning a 7.50 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 6.50-point ride, Wilson finished with a heat-total of 14.00 points.
Young got off to a solid start, earning a 7.83 off his first business-wave, but failed to back it up with an adequate score. Adding an additional 6.03 points to his account, he was forced to settle in second place with a heat-total of 13.86 points.
Fanning had a pretty good start as well. His first business-wave allowed him to post a 7.93 on the score-board, but he only managed to back it up with a 4.57-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 12.50 points.
“We had a really slow heat and I figured it’d be slow after the last heat,” Wilson said. “I thought we’d get plenty of sets with the incoming tide, but it was still slow. My first wave was pretty good, but it felt like more of a warm up wave and I left it
pretty tight at the end. I thought there’d be good barrels and sections for airs but there’d only be one or two sets, but it was close and came down to the end. So much energy got used up in that heat before that ours was bound to be a bit slow.”
The fourth heat saw Bourez put his powerful forehand carves on display as he battled it out with Patacchia and De Souza in a three-man bout for a place in the quarter-finals.
The French Polynesian surfer got off to an excellent start and kept the momentum going until the end. Collecting a 9.33 and 9.17 off his best-two waves, he finished with a heat-total of 18.50 points, which kept him in the lead until the end to see him through
into the quarter-finals.
Patacchia and De Souza found themselves relegated to the fifth round as they registered a heat-total of 17.23 and 13.87 points respectively.
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