Matt Wilkinson downs Willian Cardoso to secure Quarter-final spot at Quiksilver Saquarema Prime
Australia’s Matt Wilkinson successfully stepped into the Quarter-finals at the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola after defeating Brazil’s Willian Cardoso in the fifth heat of Round 5 (Round of 16) that went down at the point-break of Itauna
Beach in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday, May 26.
The battle turned out to be intense due to the scarcity of potent scoring opportunities during the course of the man-on-man battle, keeping both the surfers on their toes from the start until the end.
The fifth day of the latest stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME calendar had received the blessings of Mother Nature, with sunny skies and three-to-five foot waves at the primary event site. However, the latest battle for the
Quarter-final spot went down in pretty demanding conditions.
Both Wilkinson and Cardoso had been looking pretty impressive since the start of the competition. The Brazilian powerhouse in particular was responsible for a series of memorable shows, putting on an exquisite show for his local fans. His familiarity with
the surfing conditions on hand were coming into play during most of the battles and the huge array of tricks in his arsenal was making him a force to be reckoned with.
Wilkinson, on the other hand, was making the most of his experience to hold his own against some of the top surfing talent from around the globe. There was plenty of money and ASP ranking points to be won at the event, which has resulted in a huge competition
field comprising of intimidating talent.
The fifth heat of Round 5 saw Wilkinson and Cardoso pushed against the edge during their clash for the Quarter-final spot. Wilkinson got off to a slow start, but eventually managed to lock a comparatively juicy wave to unload a series of quick turns and
thus earn a 6.83 for the effort. Despite a determined hunt for another decent score, he was only able to add another 2.13 points to his account, thus finishing with a heat-total of 8.96 points.
Cardoso had even lesser luck with the waves as his rival. The best he could manage to get hold off during the course of the battle was a 4.83 and 3.50-point ride, which took him to a heat-total of 8.33 points. The score kept him 0.63 points behind Wilkinson,
thus sealing the fate of the low-scoring affair in the favour of the latter.
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