Semi-finalists decided on the final day of ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Surf Open Acapulco
Hawaii’s Tanner Hendrickson, America’s Michael Powell, Costa Rica’s Carlos Munoz and Australia’s Leigh Sedley made it into the semi-finals at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Quiksilver Surf Open Acapulco after emerging triumphant in their respective quarter-final heats that went down at Playa Revolcadero in Acapulco, Mexico, on Sunday, July 22.
The surfing conditions at the primary event site continued to remain challenging, bringing in six-foot waves that were quite hard to control. The search for big scores turned out to be real tough for the up-and-coming surfers as they battled it out for survival.
The first Quarter-final pitted Hendrickson against his fellow countryperson Gavin Gillette. Both the surfers had done quite well to stay alive in contention for the event title over the last few days despite continuously facing demanding surfing conditions.
However, Hendrickson brought the solid run of his rival to a halt as he finished with a heat-total of 9.07 points against his rival’s 8.15 points.
The second Quarter-final saw Powell square off with his compatriot Colin Moran in a battle for the semi-final spot. Both the surfers struggled to find their rhythm during the course of the battle, a task that proved real tough as the conditions pushed them to the limits.
Powell eventually managed to reach a heat-total of 7.46 points, whereas Moran ended the heat with a two-wave total of 3.87 points. The lacklustre performance by the latter led to his elimination from the competition while sending Powell into the next stage of the competition.
The third Quarter-final saw Munoz and America’s Michael Dunphy take each other on in a man-on-man battle for a place in the semi-final. While the two surfers had done well to remain alive in the contention for the event title, only one of them could advance further in the competition.
As the battle got underway, the Costa Rican surfer managed to get his hands on a couple of decent scores and reached a heat-total of 12.10 points, which kept him ahead of his rival Dunphy, who finished with a heat-total of 10.23 points, until the end to see him through to victory.
The battle for the last remaining spot in the semi-finals took place between Sedley and Peru’s Miguel Tudela.
As the fourth Quarter-final got underway, both the surfers put on an energetic and determined performance to try and get their hands on the win. As the dust settled, it was Sedley who stood victorious with a heat-total of 13.33 points against his rival’s two-wave total of 11.14 points.
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