Willian Cardoso prevails over Filipe Toledo in Burton Toyota Pro final at Newcastle’s Surfest
Brazil’s Willian Cardoso clinched the Mark Richards trophy after prevailing over his fellow countryman Filipe Toledo in the Final of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest at Merewether Beach in New
South Wales, Australia, on Sunday, March 18.
The triumph at the latest ASP 6-Star event made Cardoso the third Brazilian ever to claim top honours at Burton Toyota Pro, with Neco Padaratz and Adriano de Souza winning the event in 2006 and 2008 respectively.
Top surfers from around the world had arrived at Merewether Beach to compete for top honours at the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) event, looking to take home the coveted title along with the ASP rating points. However, the Brazilians remained the standouts
throughout the competition despite not being as familiar with the waves as their Australian rivals.
Cardoso and Toledo were two of the most consistent surfers in the event, which eventually carried them through into the Final.
As the final got underway, Toledo got off to a solid start, scoring a 6.33 early in the heat. However, he ended up getting called for interference after dropping in on his rival without holding priority. He eventually posted a 9.50 on the score-board to
grab the lead despite the penalty, according to which on one of his score was going to be counted towards the heat-total.
Cardoso was not looking in the best of forms, but the grave mistake by his rival at such a crucial moment give him a huge advantage. Despite catching a large number of waves, he struggled to find a good score for most part of the heat. In the final minutes
of the heat, he caught his second business-wave to score a 7.43 off it. The last minute effort combined with his first business-wave score of 3.17 points to take him to a heat-total of 10.60 points, allowing him to barely edge past Toledo on the score-board
to walk away with the win.
“I’m really, really happy!” Cardoso said after Final. “I was here and came 5th when Adriano [De Souza] won. This is so amazing for me! I was really, really nervous when Filipe [Toledo] scored the interference. I only needed a small score and I kept falling.
Then I got that 7-point-ride and I knew that I had won and I was so happy.”
Toledo had put on an outstanding performance during the Final and even though he did not get the desired result, he was not utterly disappointed with the overall outcome of the competition.
“I didn’t see him there when I got the interference,” Toledo said. “It’s disappointing, but I’m happy to get 2nd in an all Brazilian Final.”
The 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro turned out to be a real treat for the surfing fans as they got to witness an adrenaline-pumping action throughout the course of the event.
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