ETHAN Ewing has taken down Olympic bronze medallist Owen Wright in an all-Australian affair to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.<\/p>\n
Ewing produced a two-wave total of 16.33 in Saturday’s quarterfinal to easily eclipse Wright (11.17).<\/p>\n
Although Wright fell short of making the final four, his best result of the year has boosted his chances of making the World Surf League’s (WSL) 24-person mid-season cut, which will take place after the upcoming Margaret River Pro.<\/p>\n
Ewing, who reached the semi-finals at Sunset Beach in Hawaii earlier this year, will now take on Brazilian Filipe Toledo for a spot in the Bells Beach final.<\/p>\n
Toledo secured his semi-final berth by knocking out two-time world champion John John Florence in a high-quality battle.<\/p>\n
Three-time world champion Mick Fanning, who made the round of 16 at Bells as a wildcard after coming out of retirement for the event, was full of praise for Ewing.<\/p>\n
“It’s a really different Ethan we’re seeing in this heat – this is an aggressive Ethan, which I like,” Fanning said on the WSL commentary.<\/p>\n
Toledo pulled off a 9.63-ride in the opening minutes of the heat to set the tone, but Florence fought back to ensure the quarter final went down to the death.<\/p>\n
With 30 seconds to go, Florence set off on a wave needing a 7.98 for victory, but he suffered a wipeout after attempting a sharp turn.<\/p>\n
“He really needed something big. It got heavy on him,” Fanning said.<\/p>\n
“You’ve been there before. When you need a big score you want to throw everything at it, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.”<\/p>\n
Australian rookie Callum Robson defeated Miguel Pupo in the third quarterfinal and will go head-to-head in the other semi final with West Australian Jack Robinson, who had a narrow victory over 2019 world champion Italo Ferreira.<\/p>\n
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ETHAN Ewing has taken down Olympic bronze medallist Owen Wright in an all-Australian affair to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Ewing produced a two-wave total of 16.33 in Saturday’s quarterfinal to easily eclipse Wright (11.17). Although Wright fell short of making the final four, his best result […]<\/p>\n