Mateia Hiquily and Medi Veminardi power into Round 4 of Billabong ASP World Junior Championships
French Polynesia’s Mateia Hiquily got the better of Brazil’s Peterson Crisanto in the first heat, while Reunion Island’s Medi Veminardi downed America’s Chase Wilson in the second heat of Billabong Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Junior
Championships’ Round 3 that began at the iconic Burleigh Heads in Gold Coast, Australia, on Tuesday, January 24.
Clinching a successful result in their respective Round 3 heats, both Hiquily and Veminardi confirmed their place in the fourth round, while removing Crisanto and Wilson from the contention for the event title.
Entering the stormy seas to face their latest challenge, the surfers found themselves under immense pressure due to the threat of elimination as well as the tricky three-foot waves.
The opening heat of Round 3 pitted Hiquily against Crisanto. The latter had been sensational on the first day of the competition and confidently made his way into the third round. Hiquily, on the other hand, had taken the long road to Round 3 after facing
disappointment on day 1 of Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, but making a strong come-back in Round 2.
As the face-off between the two surfers began, Hiquily got down to business right away and collected a 6.00 of his first business-wave early in the heat. Crisanto soon managed to move into the lead by scoring a 6.10 off his first business-wave.
A few minutes later, the Brazilian added another 2.53 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 8.63 points. Hiquily failed to score a decent score off his second business-wave, but a mere 3.67 proved to be sufficient to take him past Crisanto on
the score-board and thus claim victory.
The final heat of the day saw Veminardi continue his good form to prevail over Wilson and make his way into the next round.
As the second heat of Round 3 got underway, Veminardi collected a 4.67 off his first business-wave. He managed to add an additional 5.67 points to his account in the dying minutes to eventually finish with a heat-total of 10.34 points.
Wilson apparently succumbed to the conditions, scoring a 4.27 and 1.93 off his best-two waves to finish 4.14 behind his Reunion Island-based rival, allowing Veminardi to walk away with a comfortable win.
The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships Gold Coast in the third and final event of ASP World Junior Tour and will determine the men’s and women’s 2011 ASP World Junior Champion.
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