Taj Burrow and Filipe Toledo advance to Round 5 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Australia’s Taj Burrow and Brazil’s Filipe Toledo confirmed their place in the fifth round (Round of 16) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest after claiming top honours in their respective Round
4 (Round of 24) heats at Merewether Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Friday, March 16.
Australia’s Adam Melling and America’s Nat Young also managed to extend their life in the event after securing runner-up place in the first and second heat respectively, while New Zealand’s Jay Quinn and Brazil’s Krystian Kymerson got eliminated from the
competition due to their third-place finish.
The two-foot waves on offer at the primary event site on the fifth day of the competition proved to be of little trouble to the surfers as they continued their pursuit of the handsome prize cheque and coveted ASP rating points that were on offer at the ASP
6-Star event.
The 33-year-old Burrow, current No.1 on the 2012 ASP World Tour, continued his winning streak at Burton Toyota Pro after downing Melling and Quinn to advance through into the next round. He got off to a modest start and looked to be struggling for most part
of the heat before finding his rhythm in the final minutes to collect a 6.77-point wave and soon backing it up with a 6.97-point wave for a heat-total of 13.74 points to tighten his hold on the lead that had been changing hands throughout the course of the
battle.
“I was struggling out there for sure,” Burrow said. “None of us felt safe with the lead changing over and over. We were all posting mid-range score so it was there for the taking the whole heat. I’m glad to get through that one because I don’t like the three
and four man heats. It’s man-on-man from here on out and I’m looking forward to it.”
Melling managed to go through into the next round as well after scoring a 5.20 and 7.33 off his first wave for a heat-total of 12.53 points to go through into the next round.
Quinn had been in an excellent form during the course of the event, but reached the end of the road on Friday. The Kiwi collected a 7.17 and 4.73-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 11.90 points, which placed him third and thus added him to the elimination
list.
The second heat featured an impressive performance by Toledo as he got the better of Young and Kymerson in the three-man battle.
Looking in great touch since the last few months, Toledo continued his impressive form on the latest day of Burton Toyota Pro. As the second heat kicked-off, he wasted no time in locking his first wave to post a 7.00 on the score-board and immediately followed
it up with a 6.77-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 13.77 points.
Young, the young gun from California, successfully made the Round 5 cut as well despite a rather shaky performance for a heat-total of 10.27 points, which included a 4.50 and 5.77-point wave.
Kymerson was forced to step out of the contention for the event title after scoring a 5.50 and 4.70 off his top-two waves for a heat-total of 10.20 points.
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