Willian Cardoso steps into Round 3 of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime – Surfing News
Brazilian surfer Willian Cardoso confirmed his place in the third round (No-Loser Round of 24) of the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola after claiming victory in the ninth heat of Round 2 (Round of 48) that went down at the point-break of
Saquarema, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 23.
His fellow countryperson Flavio Nakagima qualified for the next round of the competition as well after securing runner-up position. Australia’s Blake Thornton finished third, while Brazil’s Yuri Sodre rounded out the bottom position. The failure to finish
in top-two resulted in the elimination of both the surfers from the contention for the event title.
The four-to-six foot glassy waves breaking at the primary event site on day 2 of the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME event came off as a perfect stage for the world’s top surfing talent to put their stylish skills on display, which
is exactly what they did. The huge crowd in attendance at Itauna Beach got treated to a heavy dose of thrilling action, witnessing some of the world’s most exciting athletes doing what they did best, motivated to get their hands on the event title along with
a share of the winning prize and coveted ASP ranking points.
The ninth heat of Round 2 pitted Cardoso against Nakagima, Thornton and Sodre in a four-man battle for the Round 3 spot.
As the battle got underway, Cardoso got off to a slow start, apparently struggling to find his rhythm. As the heat progressed, the local talent began to show a bit of an urgency, clearly coming to terms with the fact that he only had a few minutes left to
post a couple of good scores on the score-board, else find himself eliminated from the competition. Locking his first business-wave in the final minutes of the battle, Cardoso posted a 6.50 on the score-board and backed it up with a 6.33-point ride to finish
with a decisive heat-total of 12.83 points.
Nakagima extended his life in the event as well through his runner-up finish, which came after he managed to score a 4.90 and an impressive 7.60 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 12.50 points.
A two-wave total of 9.87 points forced Thornton to settle for a third-place finish, while Sodre finished fourth after sitting at a heat-total of 7.67 points at the conclusion of the battle. Both the surfers were consequently forced to prematurely step out
of the contention for the latest ASP PRIME event title.
Tags: