Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Australian Ethan Ewing has survived a trip to the slaughterhouse, edging out a local favourite and a star Brazilian to book a spot in the Philippines Pro semi-finals and keep his world title hopes alive.
On a day when two Australian men and two Australian women secured semi-final berths, it was the plight of Ewing that held the most intrigue.
Starting the event seventh on the rankings and needing a strong result to stay in the title picture, Ewing first had to confront local wildcard and Cloud 9 standout John Mark Tokong in the second round.
Tokong showed moments of brilliance, just missing the doggy door on a long, multi-section tube, before falling on back-to-back air attempts in a heat of near misses.
Ewing won through 14.50 to 11.54.
“It felt like I was going to the slaughterhouse before that one,” Ewing said.
“I’ve never seen so many fans all out for just one guy. He’s definitely a crazy wildcard to go up against out here.”
Ewing backed up that effort with a huge display against two-time world champion Filipe Toledo in the quarter-finals.
Toledo looked ominous, going for multiple huge air attempts before eventually sticking a huge full rotation alley-oop, landing in the flats, to post a near-perfect 9.43 to take the lead.
He then backed it up with a top-turn-to-air-reverse combination.
A patient Ewing eventually found the wave he was looking for, snaring one of the longest, hollowest and thickest barrels ridden all event to post a 9.17, taking his two-wave total to 17.17 to edge out Toledo (14.93).
Ewing will now take on Jack Robinson in an all-Australian semi-final after the Margaret River surfer got past Seth Moniz in the quarter-finals.
The other semi-final will pit Brazilians Yago Dora and Gabriel Medina against each other.
On the women’s side, defending world champion and current world No.1 Molly Picklum was eliminated by fellow Australian Isabella Nichols 13.50 to 2.57 in the quarter-finals.
The shock result catapulted Nichols into an all-Australian semi-final against two-time world champion Tyler Wright.
Nichols, who is in her first event since having to withdraw from the Fiji Pro final due to an ankle injury, is relishing the fact she can surf with freedom.
“This is honestly like a dream for me,” Nichols said.
“I honestly did not think I was going to make a heat at this event, and making one heat was a cherry on top and made it feel like it was the right decision to come here.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d make the semi-finals here.”
Caitlin Simmers will take on five-time world champion Carissa Moore in the other women’s semi-final.
