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Christie Breaks Into Top 100 |
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Written by Ben Kennings
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Monday, 23 August 2010 |
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Richard Christie - Image Aquashot / ASP
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Richard Christie has busted into the top 100 on the ASP Men’s World Tour after his third placing at the 6-star Sooruz Pro at Lacanau, France that was completed overnight.
Christie (21) finished equal 3rd losing to eventual event winner Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) in the semifinals in a low scoring semi-final clash.
Positioning himself on the southern bank in search of the left-handers Christie failed to find any scoring rides until the dying moments of the heat where he grinded out an excellent8.27 out of a possible 10 however to no avail.
The surf was pumping for the final day with a 1.5m swell and offshore winds.
“It is a good result for me and unfortunately I only got one good scoring wave in that heat but anyway Wiggolly deserved the win as he surfed really well that heat. I was doing the same as I have been doing the entire event going out on the south side and it has been fun but now as the tide is getting higher it got a little fatter than what I thought it was going to do so a little mistake on my part but I have learnt from it for sure.”
The result jumped Christie 38 places up the rankings and past fellow Kiwi Jay Quinn who finished the event in 25th place and now sits in 102nd.
Christie’s previous best result was a quarter final finish at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Tasmania at the start of the year. He along with his fellow Kiwis will want to extend their good vein of form into the next event starting Tuesday night (NZ time) when the Movistar Pantin Classic starts in Spain. The two surfers will be joined by Billy Stairmand, who placed 49th at the Lacanau event as well as Paige Hareb and Jessica Santorik who will be contesting the women’s division.
You can watch all the action live here.
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Floating to victory in the quarters - Image Aquashot / ASP
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Barrels for the final day - Image Aquashot / ASP
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Prizegiving celebrations - Image Aquashot / ASP
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More celebrations - Image Aquashot / ASP
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