Matt Wilkinson and Jonathan Gonzalez claim victory in Round 3 of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime
Australia’s Matt Wilkinson and Venezuela’s Jonathan Gonzalez headed straight into the fifth round (Round of 16) at the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola after claiming victory in their respective Round 3 (No-Loser Round of 24) heats that went down at the point-break of Itauna Beach in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, May 24.
While Wilkinson clinched victory in the fifthheat of Round 3, his rivals Flavio Nakagima from Brazil and Brian Toth from Puerto Rico finished in second and third place respectively, therefore having to take a trip to the fourth round (Round of 24).
The sixth heat sent Gonzalez into the fifth round while relegating Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and Willian Cardoso to the fourth round.
The third day of the latest edition of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime had been delivering quite a handful of thrill and intensity during the battles between the top surfing talents from around the world and was expected to maintain the adrenal rush at Itauna Beach during the remaining heats in the competition. The two-to-three foot waves on offer added to the anticipation of a series of gripping battles.
The fifth heat of Round 3 pitted Wilkinson against Nakagima and Toth in a three-man battle for the Round 5 spot.
Wilkinson, an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour contender, may not have had the best of starts in the elite tour, but that hardly seemed to be the case at the latest ASP PRIME event. He was showing a solid form at Itauna Beach and continued to look impressive on Thursday, scoring a 7.50 and 8.60 off his best-two waves to finish with a winning heat-total of 16.10 points.
“Yeah, I’ve had a really bad start this year and I haven’t gotten any good results, but it’s a long year,” declared Wilkinson. “I’ve been able to get some good points this event by getting into the Round of 16 and the next events on the World Tour [Fiji and Tahiti] are places that really suit my style of surfing and hope to get some good results and not have that much pressure on me to stay in the Top 34 next year.”
Nakagima was nothing short of impressive during the heat either, but eventually had to settle for second place after finishing with a heat-total of 14.53 points, which included a 6.50 and 8.03-point ride. Toth finished third with a two-wave total of 10.40 points, which included a 5.17 and 5.23-point wave.
The sixth heat saw Gonzalez take on the young Brazilian powerhouse Medina and Cardoso with the odds clearly against him. However, he managed to hold his own and get the better of his two intimidating opponents to claim victory with a heat-total of 14.83 points, which included a 6.50 and 8.33-point ride.
Medina finished second with a heat-total of 13.16 points, while Cardoso had to settle for a third-place finish with a two-wave total of 12.40 points, which included a 6.67 and 5.73 points.
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