Nathan Yeomans bows out to Keanu Asing in Quiksilver Saquarema Prime quarter-finals
Hawaii’s Keanu Asing defeated America’s Nathan Yeomans in the fourth Quarter-final at the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola at the point-break of Itauna Beach in Saquarema, Brazil, on Sunday, May 27.
The solid run of form exhibited by the Hawaiian powerhouse since arriving in the state of Rio de Janeiro a week back was proving to be a real threat for the rest of his competitors, with Yeomans becoming his latest victim.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the point-break of Itauna Beach seemed ideal for a series of thrilling battles between some of the best surfing talent from around the globe. However, the inconsistency of the sea was proving to be a bit of a challenge
for the surfers during their hunt for a couple of good scores in order to stay alive in contention for the event title. The three-to-five foot waves seemed promising, but the low frequency of potent scoring opportunities presented surfers with a demanding
task.
There was plenty for motivation for the exciting action sports athletes to make their way towards the event title, as the overall victory was accompanied by $US 40,000 in prize money and 6,500 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) ranking points.
Asing and Yeomans were amongst the handful of surfers who had managed to survive the early rounds of the competitions to reach the quarter-final stage. However, their latest battle was against each other, with only one of them to go through into the next
stage of the latest event on the 2012 ASP PRIME calendar.
As the man-on-man bout got underway, Yeomans got off to a confident start, charging towards a left-hander to show off his turns and ending up posting a 5.83 on the score-board to take an early lead.
Asing managed to narrow the gap separating him from his rival by collecting a 5.00 off his first business-wave, keeping the battle very much alive.
As the heat progressed, Asing got hold of a juicy wave, which he utilised to execute a string of quick turns. The effort earned a 7.50 from the judges, thus taking him to a heat-total of 12.50 points.
Yeomans needed a score close to eight in order to threaten his Hawaiian rival’s lead. However, the American sensation only managed to score a 6.17 off his second business-wave and consequently finished 0.50 points short of the required score. As a result,
he was forced to concede victory and thus the semi-final slot of Asing.
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