WITH a spectacular display of power surfing and deep tube riding, Team Freedom’s Scott Eastwood stormed into the semi finals of the O’Neill Scottish Open held last weekend at Brimms Ness, a notorious reefbreak on the north coast of Scotland near Thurso.

The competition, part of the British Pro Surf Tour, is the fourth stop in a series of events and follows the Kangaroo Poo Jersey Open which was held at the Watersplash in May.

And Jersey surfer Eastwood’s giant-killing progress through the qualifying rounds was the highlight of this year’s Scottish event as he took on and beat the top seeds, including the 2002 and 2004 tour champions Mark ‘Igor’ Harris and Alan Stokes.

‘I was particularly pleased to beat Stokes,’ said an ecstatic Eastwood minutes after the result was announced.

‘He has been in top form all year and is definitely the man to beat.’ Unfortunately for Eastwood and the other semi-finalists, the organizers were forced to cancel the event and split the prize money on Monday morning due to the rapidly diminishing swell.

For Eastwood the result was all the more gratifying after an injury-plagued season.

‘I hurt my ankle on a surfing trip to Morocco in January and was out of the water for three months.

My results since then have been pretty poor but I’ve got some great new boards and my confidence is high.

I knew it was just a matter of time.’ But it was a bitter-sweet outcome for Eastwood speaking on the phone from Inverness Airport.

‘We were all disappointed but the organizers did the right thing.

It was virtually flat .

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it would have been impossible to do a decent turn,’ he said.

Eastwood, who is currently studying at Plymouth University will be part of the Jersey Surfboard Club team travelling to the European Championships in Caparica, Portugal next month.