Mitch Crews and Hizunome Bettero surge into Burton Toyota Pro Quarter-finals – Surfing News
Australia’s Mitch Crews and Brazil’s Hizunome Bettero took a convincing win in their respective Round 5 (Round of 16) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro, part of Newcastle’s Surfest, at Merewether Beach in New
South Wales, Australia, on Sunday, March 18.
Crews made Brazil’s Thiago Camarao bow out to him in the seventh heat, while Bettero got the better of Australia’s David Vlug in the eighth heat of the fifth round to advance through into the Quarter-finals.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the primary event site were nothing short of great at what was expected to be the final day of the latest ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS). The surfers found themselves receiving four-foot waves during the heats to show-off
their skilful and stylish surfing while continuing their pursuit of the coveted winning prize, which included a handsome cheque and ASP rating points.
The Brazilians had been making a solid impact at the latest edition of Burton Toyota Pro and Camarao was no exception either. However, Crews managed to hold him off during their encounter in the seventh heat of Round 7.
As the battle got underway, the Australian surfer used his local knowledge of the waves to set himself in a position to lock a juicy wave to post an 8.00 on the score-board. After a lengthy and determined search, he managed to add an additional 8.30 points
to his account, moving to a heat-total of 16.30 points.
Camarao was nothing short of impressive during the course of the heat either, scoring a 6.77 and 7.53 off his best-two waves. However, the effort turned out to be insufficient as he finished 2.00 points shorts of the required score and thus was forced to
surrender victory to Crews, sending him through into the next stage of the competition.
The final heat of Round 5 featured an outstanding performance by Bettero as he downed Vlug to wrap his hands around the last remaining spot in the Quarter-finals.
Continuing his excellent run of form, the Brazilian surfer got off to an excellent start with an 8.93-point wave, which he eventually backed up with a 9.67-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 18.60 points.
The mammoth-sized heat-total was never going to be an easy one to beat, but Vlug had no intention of going down without a fight. He locked his first business-wave to post a 6.67 on the score-board and added an additional 8.33 to his account to finish with
a heat-total of 15.00 points. The effort may not have been enough, but it was nothing short of commendable.
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