MAZATLAN, Mexico — The ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan decided the event’s semifinalists Saturday in clean two-to-three foot waves, states a release from the Association of Surfing Professionals. At the left-hand point break of Playa Camaron, four international competitors remain
MAZATLAN, Mexico — The ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan decided the event’s semifinalists Saturday in clean two-to-three foot waves, states a release from the Association of Surfing Professionals. At the left-hand point break of Playa Camaron, four international competitors remain in contention for the Mexican event win, including Kaua‘i’s Dylan Goodale.
The ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan is one of four ASP 4-Star events on the ASP North America Calendar for 2011, offering important points for surfers looking to establish themselves as top seeds on the ASP World Ranking.
Goodale, 20, was responsible for the upset of the event when he eliminated former ASP World Tour surfer and fellow Hawai‘i rider Kalani Robb, 34, in their quarterfinal matchup. Despite Robb’s experience with the man-on-man format, Goodale found the scores needed to surpass the veteran and advance into the semifinals.
“I’m at a loss for words right now, I’m just psyched, I’m so happy,” Goodale said. “I thought Kalani got the score on that one wave and I was so mad at myself for taking my priority on that bad closeout wave. When I heard he didn’t get the score, it was one of the happiest moments I’ve ever had.”
Puerto Rico’s Brian Toth, 26, slowly built momentum throughout his quarterfinals bout against Hawai‘i regular-footer Tanner Hendrickson, 19, but eventually locked in the day’s highest single-wave score of a 7.87 with a variety of forehand hacks and carves while taking the day’s highest heat-total of 15.40 out of 20.
“That heat was mellow, that’s the best thing about man-on-man, it just comes down to your wave choice and your form,” Toth said. “You don’t really have to worry about battling. I’m glad it’s man-on-man because it’s really slow out there right now, but when they come in I think it’s the best the surf has been for the contest. I’m just stoked to make it to the semifinals.”
Australian Mitchel Coleborn, 24, who has been a standout throughout the entirety of the event, was able to find a wave under the priority of Peru’s Gabriel Villaran, 26, and notched a solid 7.50 out of 10 on the wave for a powerful outside carve and a massive tail-drifting turn to earn his quaterfinals victory.
“I kind of snagged that one on the inside of Gabriel, he was out of position for it and he had priority,” Coleborn said. “I was really lucky to get that wave. I’ve just been watching the waves a lot and it took me a little while to get used to it, but I feel like I’m in sync with the wave now and it’s going really good. I’m feeling really confident and each heat feels better and better.”
Floridian Nils Schweizer, 25, who was competing in his first career man-on-man heat, also clinched a victory when he eliminated Californian Matt Pagan, 21.
“I’d never been in a man-on-man heat before,” Schweizer said. “I liked it because you can sit on the inside and try and pick waves when you didn’t have priority, it was cool.”
The inaugural Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan will return this morning at 8 a.m. local time (4 a.m. Hawaiian) and crown a champion by day’s end. To watch the event live log on to www.quiksilver.com/mazatlan.
For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or ww.aspnorthamerica.org.
Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan Semifinals Heats:
SF 1: Brian Toth (PRI) vs. Nils Schweizer (USA)
SF 2: Mitchel Coleborn (AUS) vs. Dylan Goodale (HAW)
Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan Quarterfinals Results:
QF 1: Brian Toth (PRI) 15.40 def. Tanner Hendrickson (HAW) 13.90
QF 2: Nils Schweizer (USA) 12.67 def. Matt Pagan (USA) 10.40
QF 3: Mitchel Coleborn (AUS) 13.00 def. Gabriel Villaran (PER)
QF 4: Dylan Goodale (HAW) 14.03 def. Kalani Robb (HAW) 12.96
