Tom Butler and Cristian Merello advance to Round 4 at Arica World Star Tour – Surfing News
Tom Butler from Great Britain and Chile’s Cristian Merello successfully advanced into the fourth round (Round of 16) at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 3-Star Arica World Star Tour after walking away with top honours from their respective
Round 3 (Round of 32) heats that went down at the menacing reef break of El Gringo in Arica, Chile, on Friday, June 15.
Peru’s Alvaro Malpartida finished just below Butler in the seventh heat to accompany the latter into the next round. Chile’s Nicolas Guajardo and Argentina’s Santiago Muniz failed to make the Round 4 cut following the bottom-two finish.
The eighth heat saw Mexico’s Angelo Lozano extend his life in the event after claiming second-place finish. Brazil’s Dennis Tihara and his fellow countryperson Cristiano Correa finished in third and fourth place respectively, consequently getting ejected
from the competition field.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the primary event site turned out to be pretty promising, with waves laying within the three-to-five foot range on offer. However, the surfers were facing a great deal of risk as the waves were breaking real close to
the menacing reef break of El Gringo. The competition continued however, with the medical staff on the alert in case of an emergency.
The seventh heat featured a pretty ordinary performance by Butler as he navigated through the waves to post a 5.75 and 2.90 on the score-board for a heat-total of 8.65 points. The effort, however, proved adequate to earn him the win and take him through
into the next round.
Malpartida got off to a slow start, but collected a 6.50-point ride just in time. Following it up with a 1.85-point wave, the Peruvian surfer finished with a heat-total of 8.35 points, which served to earn him runner-up place.
Guajardo was well on his way into the next round after reaching a heat-total of 7.50 points, until he was pushed to third place by a last-minute effort by Malpartida. Both Guajardo and Muniz, who finished in fourth place with a heat-total of 2.10 points,
were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The final heat of Round 3 saw Merello make an effective use of his local knowledge of the waves to reach a heat-total of 13.25 points. The score remained unbeatable to see him through to a convincing victory.
Lozano avoided elimination as well by getting hold of the runner-up position through a two-wave total of 8.25 points.
Tihara finished in third place with a heat-total of 5.15 points while Correa rounded out the bottom-position after only managing to reach a heat-total of 2.50 points. The lacklustre performance led to the removal of the two surfers from the contention for
the event title.
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