Nathan Yeomans and Jay Quinn advance to Billabong Azores Islands Pro Semi-Finals – ASP Prime Event
The surfing battles were expected to turn even more intense as the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event, Billabong Azores Islands Pro, reached the crucial quarter-finals stage, with the first and second quarter-final taking place
at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal, on Saturday, October 1.
USA’s Nathan Yeomans defeated Brazil’s Miguel Pupo in the first quarter-final to confirm his place in the Semi-Finals, bringing the competition to a premature end for his opponent.
The second quarter-final saw New Zealand’s Jay Quinn clinch a convincing victory over Brazil’s Leonardo Neves to secure a place in the Semi-Finals.
Billabong Azores Islands Pro continued to experience tough luck with the surfing conditions, which translated into a miserable time for the surfers during the crucial battles. The tricky three to four foot waves, accompanied by the strong on-shore winds,
hardly offered any juice to the surfers and kept them from going all out in their hunt for big scores.
As the first quarter-final kicked off, the 30-year-old Yeomans got off to a decent start, locking a relatively good wave to score 6.73 points off it. A few minutes later, he came across an even better wave, which he utilised to pull off a string of impressive
tricks and collect a 7.50 points. The two waves took him to a heat-total of 14.23 points, setting him in a strong position to secure victory.
Pupo remained rather unthreatening during the first half of the battle but announced himself as a serious threat after scoring 6.67 points off a wave in the later stages. He had created an opportunity for himself to take the win but failed to capitalise
on it after earning 7.10 points off his second wave, finishing with a heat-total of 13.77 points. The inadequate score forced him to concede the Semi-Final spot to Yeomans.
The next heat saw the 23-year-old Quinn compete with Neves for a place in the next round. While Neves had exhibited an impressive and consistent form over the last few days, he failed to come up with the goods during the quarter-final battle.
Quinn began to assert pressure on Neves quite early in the heat after scoring 6.67 points off his first business-wave, while the latter struggled to get his hands on a mediocre score. The Kiwi went on to add another 6.00 points to his account and finished
with a heat-total of 12.67 points.
Neves looked extremely uncomfortable during the quarter-final and failed to collect a single competitive wave throughout the entirety of the 30-minute battle. He eventually finished with a heat-total of 8.87 points, which included a 3.70 and 5.17-point wave,
to concede the Semi-Final spot to Quinn.
For more updates on the Billabong Azores Islands Pro quarter-finals, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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