Australian surfer, Julian Wilson emerged victorious at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Sri Lankan Airlines Pro Surf 2010 finals, held at Arugam Bay, to become the first man to claim the six star rated tournament’s title.
Wilson enthralled the large crowd gathered at the beach with a courageous and skillful display of surfing to outclass his worthy 19-year-old American opponent, Nat Young. Although Young produced a dazzling exhibition during his semi final match-up against Australian Jayke Sharpe, putting up a mammoth score of 16.20, he failed to assemble a similarly dominant performance in the finals.
Wilson on the other hand was solid throughout the tournament, his toughest battle coming against his Aussie counterpart Drew Courtney. The world’s 15th ranked surfer racked up a final’s score of 14.33 to Young’s insufficient point’s tally of 8.83.
“I can’t believe what an outstanding event this has been for me and all the surfers who have travelled here. The waves have been outstanding everyday and in many ways they are similar to the point waves around Noosa where I live – but probably way more consistent,” Wilson said after collecting his winner’s trophy.
Young conceded that on the day he was beaten by the better surfer but the talented American’s performance in the competition proved that he has a promising future in the sport. “I knew the only way to beat Julian would be to score two excellent waves in that final – he’s been the stand-out all week. I went for the win but came unstuck on a few critical moves but I’m really pleased with this result,” Young explained.
The Sri Lankan Airlines Pro 2010 is the first major international surfing event to be held in Sri Lanka. It saw scores of foreign surfers, from countries as far flung as South Africa, Hawaii and Spain, along with local surfing talent, glide across the perfect waves at Arugam Bay for over a week. |
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