Both competitors had standout performances throughout the event and were evenly matched coming into the Finals, where Malpartida came from behind on his last wave to edge out Walsh by a score of 13.00 to 11.50 respectively.
“This wave (El Gringo) is my favorite in the world,” said Alvaro Malpartida. “The truth is, I can’t describe how I’m feeling right now, but it’s one of the best days of my life. It’s incredible to win a contest with barrels like we had today and beat Anthony (Walsh), who surfs great in heavy waves. As well as Gabriel (Villaran) and Marco Giorgi who also surfed well all week. It also felt amazing to hear the crowd cheering for me, thank you to everyone.”
During the Quarterfinals, Malpartida scored the day’s highest heat wave total of an 18.07 (out of a possible 20 points) by defeating, Igor Moraes (BRA), 16, who had been on a tear throughout the event.
In his Semifinal clash, Malpartida was up against Marco Giorgi (URY), 25, who despite scoring the day’s highest single wave of a 9.83 (out of 10 points) was no match for the ensuing event winner.
Anthony Walsh was focused all week long on a back-to-back event win at El Gringo, despite suffering from a bout of malaria from a recent trip to Indonesia. Walsh was barely able to defeat Yan Daberkow (BRA), 18, in the Quarterfinals by a score of 12.34 to 12.00 respectively. Then in the Semifinals, Walsh sneaked past Gabriel Villaran (PER), 28, who is also a past winner of the Maui and Sons World Star Tour event in 2009, by a score of 11.87 to 11.50.
“I’m so stoked to make it to another final and second place is a really good result too,” said Anthony Walsh. “I’m happy for Alvaro (Malpartida) who got injured and he deserved the win. In a wave like this, you know there’s always a chance of getting cut, hurt or bruised because it’s so dangerous.”
The hollow reef break at El Gringo, in Arica Chile is a world-class wave famed by prior WCT performances by the likes of Andy Irons, Mick Fanning and the Hobgood brothers. This elevated standard of performance was reflected by the wide array of international athletes competing at the Maui and Sons World Star Tour. In fact, ASP World Star history was made today when ASP Tour Manager, Al Hunt, noticed that an unprecedented number of eight different nations were represented by the sixteen athletes that qualified into the Quarterfinals.
The ASP 3-Star Maui and Sons World Star Tour presented by Monster Energy and Sony is the fourth stop on the 2013 ASP South America Surf Series, which will crown the ASP South America champion with the highest ranking from all of the ASP Prime and ASP Star events organized by the ASP South America regional office.
MAUI AND SONS ARICA PRO FINAL RESULT:
1 - Alvaro Malpartida (PER) 13.00
2 - Anthony Walsh (AUS) 11.50
Maui AND SONS ARICA PRO SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
Heat 1: Anthony Walsh (AUS) 11.87 def. Gabriel Villaran (PER) 11.50
Heat 2: Alvaro Malpartida (PER) 15.96 def. Marco Giorgi (URY) 14.36
MAUI AND SONS ARICA PRO QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:
Heat 1: Anthony Walsh (AUS) 12.34 def. Yan Daberkow (BRA) 12.00
Heat 2: Gabriel Villaran (PER) 16.43 def. Martin Jeri (PER) 7.37
Heat 3: Marco Giorgi (URY) 15.40 def. Manuel Selman (CHL) 10.50
Heat 4: Alvaro Malpartida (PER) 18.07 def. Igor Moraes (BRA) 9.44
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