Christie out on countback

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

SURFING

GISBORNE-Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie was on the wrong end of an agonisingly close heat at the US Open of Surfing in California.

Christie was eliminated on countback in Round 2 of the Qualifying Series 10,000-point contest at Huntington Beach.

He and Australian Jack Robinson finished second-equal on points — 12.77 out of a possible 20 points.

However, the Aussie advanced as he had the best single wave score of 7.0 to Christie’s 6.77. The top two from each heat move on.

American Cole Houshmand won the heat with 13.24 while Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas was fourth with 11.83 — just 1.44 points separating all four.

The US Open is the second of the 10,000-point contests on the QS — the tier below the Championship Tour.

Christie is sitting in 30th place on the CT. He has been knocked out in Round 3 of all six contests so far.

The top 22 from the 11-contest series retain their places for the 2020 CT.

Strong results in QS 10,000 contests give CT surfers outside the top 22 another way of qualifying for the premier tour.