On September 10, the preliminary rounds of the 3rd Qiantang River Surfing Competition concluded. In the end, the U.S. Hawaii team, featuring the "Jamie duo," and the Australian Queensland team, which competed that day, both advanced. They will meet in the finals on the 11th, the 18th day of the eighth lunar month — the day when the Qiantang Tide is at its most powerful all year. Previously highly anticipated China's Hangzhou team was unfortunately eliminated and will not compete in the finals.
After the matches, Peter Townend, the overall planner of this event, commented that based on the preliminary results, this is the highest-level surfing competition to date. With a perfect score of 90, the scores of the four competing teams — China's Hangzhou team, Australia's Queensland team, the U.S. Hawaii team, and the U.S. California team — were all within 5 points of each other.
On the first day of the preliminaries, the intense match between China's Hangzhou team and the U.S. Hawaii team set a high benchmark for the second day’s competition. The Australian Queensland team and the U.S. California team had little margin for error if they hoped to advance to the finals. The battle on the 10th was not only about whether the two teams would qualify, but also a face-off between two of the world’s great surfing destinations: Queensland, Australia, and Huntington Beach, California. However, due to differing geographical environments, the waves at the two locations have very distinct styles, which also shape the different surfing styles of the athletes.
On September 11, the 18th day of the eighth lunar month, the annual surf battle will reach its climax in the ultimate showdown. CCTV-13 and Qianjiang Channel will broadcast the peak of this “marathon on water.”