Michael Dunphy and Leigh Sedley advance to Quiksilver Surf Open Acapulco quarter-finals
America’s Michael Dunphy and Australia’s Leigh Sedley were able to secure their place in the quarter-finals at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Quiksilver Surf Open Acapulco after claiming top honours in their respective Round 5 (Round
of 16) heats that went down at the Playa Revolcadero in Acapulco, Mexico, on Saturday, July 21.
Peru’s Miguel Tudela and Costa Rica’s Carlos Munoz made through into the next round as well after securing runner-up positions in their respective Round 5 heats.
The latest day of the competition saw an apparent improvement in the surfing conditions, with the swell rising up to four-to-six feet. However, the off-shore conditions remained at the primary event site, thus keeping the local and international up-and-coming
talent on the back-foot.
The third heat saw Dunphy square off with Tudela, America’s Shane Beschen and his fellow countryperson Cory Arrambide.
The 22-year-old Virginia Beach-based surfer pulled off a series of impressive tricks on a couple of waves to reach a heat-total of 11.56 points, which held up until the end to see him through to victory.
“I was really relieved to get through it,” Dunphy said. “Today is probably the most closed out the conditions have been and I was just able to get in to a good rhythm in the beginning. I was able to find a couple that let me do a couple of turns and that
really set me up for the rest of the heat. I was happy to get through because it was my hardest heat so far. I figured I’d just do my thing and try and get those lefts and do what I’ve been doing.”
Tudela finished in runner-up place with a heat-total of 7.90 points to advance into the next stage of the competition as well, while Beschen and Arrambide rounded out the bottom-two positions with a heat-total of 7.76 and 5.13 points respectively.
The battle for the last-two remaining spots during the fourth heat of Round 5 saw Sedley walk away with top honours after finishing with a heat-total of 8.80 points. He was accompanied into the next round by Munoz, who secured runner-up place through the
registration of a heat-total of 8.56 points.
Hawaii’s Hank Gaskell finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.44 points, while America’s Taylor Clark was forced to settle for bottom place after finishing with a heat-total of 6.20 points. Both the surfers were consequently getting eliminated from
the competition.
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