CHENNAI: Fresh of a semifinal finish at the recent Bonsoy Chiba Ichinomiya Open in Japan, Joh Azuchi carried his form into Heat 1 of the Round of 32, posting the highest two-wave total of the event so far in the Tamil Nadu International Surf Open World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 3,000 at Mahabalipuram.
Azuchi’s 14.15 combination (out of a possible 20) came from his razor-sharp frontside snaps which were a perfect match for the slow right-handers of Mahabalipuram. Azuchi was in last place with eight minutes left but he was able to find his two scores with only minutes remaining.
“I didn’t expect to get such good scores but knew it would be enough to have me progress into the Round of 16,” he said.