Thiago Camarao and CJ Hobgood clinch Billabong Azores Islands Pro Semi-Finals spot – ASP Prime Event
Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal, continued showcasing the third and fourth quarter-final rounds of the Billabong Azores Islands Pro on Saturday, October 1 as CJ Hobgood and Thiago Camarao continued their ascent.
Brazil’s Thiago Camarao took a convincing victory over Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia to make his way into the Semi-Finals, eliminating his opponent from the competition in the process.
The fourth quarter-final saw CJ Hobgood defeat his compatriot, Kolohe Andino, with a rather convincing margin to knock him out of the event and step into the Semi-Finals.
Every single day of the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event has presented the competing surfers with a daunting task of holding their own in tricky waves and strong on-shore winds. It was the experience rather than skills that was
playing an integral role in determining the fate of the contest so far, as the outcome of the heats depended on just how well-prepared the surfers came for the demanding surfing conditions.
The 23-year-old Camarao was among the few surfers who had done well to adjust to the difficult conditions prevailing at the event site and perform consistently. After gradually making his way through the initial rounds of the competition, the Brazilian got
pitted against Patacchia, another surfer who had looked to be in threatening form, in the third quarter-final.
As the third quarter-final kicked off, Patacchia got off to a solid start, locking a wave in the opening minutes of the heat to collect 6.83 points. Camarao soon responded with a 6.33-point wave to keep the battle alive.
A few minutes later, the Brazilian locked a wave to unload a combination of impressive manoeuvres, earning 7.23-points for the effort and moving to a heat-total of 13.56 points. The target proved too much for Patacchia to beat and he ended up conceding victory
to his rival after finishing with a heat-total of 11.40 points.
The last quarter-final saw the 32-year-old Hobgood compete with the California-based Andino for the Semi-Final spot. Both the surfers had been in exceptional form and their showdown was expected to be nothing short of electrifying.
On the contrary, the battle turned out to be pretty one-sided, with Hobgood taking control of the heat in the opening minutes with an 8.93-point wave. He soon added an additional 5.67 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 14.60 points.
Andino failed to put up the sort of fight that was expected of him and eventually finished with a heat-total of 10.94 points, which included a 6.27 and 4.67-point wave. The 3.66-point deficit forced him to surrender victory and hence the Semi-Final spot
to Hobgood.
For updates on the Billabong Azores Islands Pro Semi-Finals, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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