Julian Wilson and Mitch Crews reach the semi-finals at Mr Price Pro Ballito – Surfing news
Australia’s Julian Wilson and his fellow countryperson Mitch Crews advanced to the semi-finals at the third of eight events on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime series, Mr Price Pro Ballito, after claiming top honours in their respective
quarter-final heats that went down at Ballito, South Africa, on Saturday, July 6, 2013.
Wilson put on an impressive performance during the third quarter-final to get the better of Brazil’s David Do Carmo, consequently advancing to the next stage of the competition while removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
Crews, on the other hand, held his own against Hawaii’s Mason Ho in the fourth quarter-final to successfully secure his place in the semi-finals, while bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival in the process.
Playing host to some of the most exciting talent from around the globe, Ballito had surely lived up to its reputation over the last few days by delivering some excellent waves. The latest day of the competition, which was also expected to be final one, saw
high-performance waves gracing the break yet again, thus creating an ideal stage for an exciting climax to what had been an enthralling affair so far.
Wilson had been one of the in-form surfers during the previous rounds of Mr Price Pro Ballito, being responsible for a handful of exquisite performances during his journey to the quarter-finals. However, he was up against another in-form surfer, Do Carmo,
in the third quarter-final.
As the battle got underway, the Australian surfer got off to an impressive start. Going through a series of average wave scores, he built momentum before eventually locking a couple of juicy waves to move to a heat-total of 14.40 points.
Do Carmo, on the other hand, found himself struggling to adjust to the conditions on hand and eventually finished the heat on a heat-total of 9.44 points. The effort was clearly inadequate and thus resulted in his elimination from the competition.
The sixth heat saw Crews and Ho lock horns for the semi-final spot, which basically meant getting one step closer to the coveted ASP ranking points and huge prize purse that was on offer.
As the heat got underway, both the surfers took a bit of time to adjust to the waves. Crews was the first one to break free of the shackles and registering a couple of decent scores, which took him to a heat-total of 13.84 points.
Ho stepped up in the dying minutes of the heat, but his efforts turned out to be in vain. He finished with a heat-total of 11.07 points, which forced him to surrender victory and thus the semi-final spot to his rival.
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