The third day of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 2-Star 2013 Burton Toyota Pro Junior saw the eight quarter-finalists get decided in the men’s field at the Surfest in Newcastle, Australia, on Saturday, February 16, 2013.
The Australian surfers continued to stamp their authority in the competition, allowing only two foreigners, Italy’s Leonardo Fioravanti and America’s Kanoa Igarashi, to go through into the quarter-finals
With the conditions continuing to put the patience and experience of the surfers in contention for the event title as well as the coveted ASP ranking points to test, it turned out to be a very interesting contest, featuring a lot of suspense.
Fioravanti managed to adapt to the conditions on hand and consequently managed to walk away a winner from a tough Round 5 (Round of 16) heat.
Pitted against the Australian surfers Jack Duggan and Soli Bailey, along with Japan’s Arashi Kato, the Italian surfer posted a 7.25 and 4.50 off his best-two waves on the score-board to register a decisive heat-total of 11.75 points.
The win took him through into the quarter-finals, where he is to face Australia’s Jack Sylvester in a man-on-man battle for the semi-final place.
“I’m really stoked to be in the Quarterfinals,” Fioravantu said. “This is already a good result for me and hopefully I can keep it going and make the Final. Everyone in the Quarterfinals is capable of winning the event, so I will have to be on my game tomorrow.
At home we have some good waves, but it’s not as consistent as here in Newcastle.”
Australia’s Cooper Chapman continued to display a formidable form on the third day of the competition again.
After comfortable making his way through into the fifth round, the local talent took on his fellow compatriots, Jesse Horner and Harry Bryant, and the Brazilian surfer Rafael Teixeira in a four-man battle for the quarter-final spot.
Scoring a 5.75 and a near-perfect 9.65 off his top-two waves, Chapman got to a heat-total of 15.40 points, which proved sufficient to seal the fate of the battle in his favour.
The winner of 2013 Burton Toyota Pro Junior will be determined in less than 24 hours, i.e. if the conditions remain decent.
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