The only thing more hunger inducing than a title race is the battle for requalification. The small Hawaiian Keanu Asing proved exactly that as he slayed metaphorical surfing giants John John Florence in the semi-finals and Gabriel Medina in the finals. Whilst Florence and Medina were busy battling it out in the title race, Asing threw his spanner into works. Had Medina won, the gap between him and Florence would have been a mere 700 points, now going into Penice, Florence will wear the yellow jersey with a 2500 point lead.
© WSL
Keanu was elated with his career best, being the only rookie this year to secure a WCT win, but he was also pleased to help his fellow countryman in his bid for the world title.
“The work’s not done yet,” an elated Asing said of his requalification quest. “I hope I did something good for John too, after beating him in our Semi. It literally felt like two lifetimes out there… I have no words to explain this feeling.”
Going into the last two WCT events of the season, the title race plot thickens and Keanu Asing is less of an underdog with some dollar to help fun his wedding.
