Nathan Carvalho downs Filipe Toledo to qualify for Billabong ASP World Junior Championships Final
Hawaii’s Nathan Carvalho barely edged past Brazil’s Filipe Toledo in the final minutes of the second Semi-final to clinch top honours and thus advance through into the Final of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Junior Championships at the
world-renowned Burleigh Heads in Gold Coast, Australia, on Saturday, January 28.
Before the third and final event of the ASP World Junior Tour got underway, all eyes were on the contenders for the World Junior Title, namely Brazil’s Caio Ibelli, Australia’s Garrett Parkes and Jack Freestone. However, the competition turned out to be
full of surprises and upsets, all coming at the hands of relatively unsung surfers. As a result, the fate of the competition as well as the ASP World Junior Title became extremely uncertain.
After an exciting first Semi-final, the competition moved to the second Semi-final on Saturday. With stormy seas and on-shore winds prevailing at the primary event site, it turned out to be a battle of skills as well as perseverance as the surfers were forced
to face two challenges instead of one. The first challenge came from their competitors for the coveted title shot, while the other challenge was presented to them by the demanding surfing conditions.
Both Carvalho and Toledo had already proved themselves to be completely capable of adjusting to the tricky surfing conditions at Burleigh Heads over the last few days and were unlikely to let the conditions play an integral role in determining the fate of
their face-off during the second Semi-final.
As the battle for the Finals’ spot kicked off, Toledo made his comfort in the stormy seas apparent by instantly locking a wave to unload a series of impressive manoeuvres to post a 7.33 on the score-board. However, his joy was short-lived as Carvalho rose
to the occasion brilliantly and responded with a near-perfect 9.10-point wave, sending the crowd into frenzy.
As the heat progressed, both the surfers remained busy in their search for another competitive score. Toledo managed to add another 7.93 points to his account in the final minutes of the heat to take his heat-total to 15.26 points. Carvalho, however, stripped
his Brazilian rival of the lead once again by locking a wave just moments before the buzzer was to go off to score a 7.40 off it. The last-minute effort took him to a heat-total of 16.50 points, consequently sealing the fate of the second Semi-final in his
favour.
With an exciting win in the second Semi-final, Carvalho moved into the Final to face Australia’s in-form Wade Carmichael for the coveted event title.
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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