Billabong Tsurigasaki Pro 4 Star WQS event runs September 22nd - 26th at Shida Shita Chiba, Japan. Stephen Walsh, Dan Thomson ( 5th in 2009 )and James Wood all start in round 1 ( round of 160 ). Good luck fellahs.
UPDATE September 22nd
The event started today in tiny 1' dribble. Walshy , Thomo and Woody all progressed into round 2.Click on photos to enlarge
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| Woody photo S. Yamamoto ASP Japan |
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| Thomo photo S. Yamamoto ASP Japan |
UPDATE September 23rd
Day 2 ran in stormy 3' conditions with a typhoon lurking off the coast. Walshy had a big win in Ht 1 round of 128 with a 14.00 total. Next up was Thomo in Ht 10 scoring a solid win with 12.66 total. Woody fought for a tough win in a low scoring Ht 12.In the round of 96 Walshy took it up a notch scoring a big win with a total of 16.00 ( 7.67 and 8.33 ).
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| Woody photo S. Yamamoto ASP Japan |
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| Thomo photo S. Yamamoto ASP Japan |
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| Walshy photo S. Yamamoto ASP Japan |
UPDATE September 24th
Day 3 ran in rippy stormy 3'- 4' conditions which made wave choice really difficult. Unfortunately Dan Thomson couldn't find the right waves and was eliminated by 0.47 points. Woody led his heat from start to finish and won with a 13.50 ( 8.33 and 5.17 ) total joining Walshy in the round 4.In the round of 64 Walshy dominated once again and moved into the final 32. Woody held the lead for his entire heat until the last 30 seconds when he was pushed into 2nd but still progressed to the final 32.
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| Wooody photo S. Yamamoto ASP Japan |
UPDATE September 25th
Massive out of control conditions due to Typhoon Malakas forced a lay day today. UPDATE September 26th
The final day of the event was run in clean 6'+ waves. After waiting 20 mins for a start, while another competitor attempted to get out the back, Walshy surfed a really smart heat for another win and moved into the final 16. Woody couldn't find right waves and was knocked in 17th.In the quarters Walshy surfed well and did enough to progress. In the semi Stephen couldn't match his wave choice from previous heats and finished the event in 7th and scored US$1,800. Congratulations mate.
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