Nikki Van Dijk and Bianca Buitendag advance to CHIKO Pro Junior Semi-finals – Surfing News
Australia’s Nikki Van Dijk and South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag walked away with top honours from the first and second Quarter-finals respectively of the 2012 CHIKO Pro Junior women’s division at Newcastle’s Surfest that continued at Merewether Beach in New
South Wales, Australia, on Sunday, March 11.
Van Dijk defeated Australia’s Naomi Stevic in the first Quarter-final, while Buitendag got the better of France’s Joanne Defay in the second Quarter-final to advance through into the Semi-finals.
The surfing conditions at the primary event site had turned out to be pretty demanding during the first two days of the 4-Star Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s Qualifying event. However, the condition of the waves had turned out to be considerably
on Day 4, setting the stage of an exciting finish to what had turned out to be four days of thrill and excitement.
Both Van Dijk and Stevic had exhibited a good form since the start of the event and were expected to put up a strong fight during their encounter to decide who got to move into the next stage.
As the first Quarter-final got underway, Dijk wasted no time in getting down to business and locked her first business-wave to post a 3.25 on the score-board, hardly the sort of start that she was hoping for. However, he went through a series of mediocre
wave-scores before locking a wave to collect a 6.00 off it, moving to a heat-total of 9.25 points.
Stevic had little luck with the waves during the course of the battle and only managed to score a 3.55 and 3.75 off her best-two waves for a heat-total of 7.30 points. The 1.95-point deficit forced her to concede victory and thus the Semi-final slot to her
compatriot.
The second Quarter-final pitted Buitendag against Defay in a crucial battle for the Semi-final spot. The South African surfer got off to a solid start, catching his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to unload a series of exquisite tricks
and earning a 7.25 for the effort. She soon backed it up with a 7.65-point wave to move to a heat-total of 14.90 points.
Defay got off to a modest start, earning a mere 4.50 off her first business-wave, but soon posted an 8.00 on the score-board to move to a heat-total of 12.50 points. Failing to improve her two-wave, she was forced to step out of contention for the event
title while sending Buitendag into the next stage.
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