KUALA TERENGGANU: Ian Williams kept his hopes for a fifth world title alive after scraping through a tense quarter-final against Francesco Bruni in the Monsoon Cup on Friday.
Luna Rossa skipper Bruni had Williams on the ropes in the pre-start, as the GAC Pinder skipper made a mistake with their timing.
“We were in big trouble up until 20 seconds to go. At that moment you wriggle as hard as you can and hope something works for you,” said Williams, who beat Bruni 2-1.
Meanwhile, in another battle, 24-year-old Taylor Canfield is beginning to look like a world champion in the making after coming through his quarter-final 2-0 against Keith Swinton.
The monsoon conditions in Kuala Terengganu played havoc with the schedule, with principal race officer David Tallis forced to cut the quarter-finals down from a “first to three points” to a “first to two points” contest for the eight teams.
Meanwhile, 46-year-old Bjorn Hansen will have to wait another year to lift the trophy after his team eWork Sailing Team lost a dramatic match against Mathieu Richard of GEFCO Match Racing Team.
In another quarter-final match, Phil Robertson dispatched fellow Kiwi Adam Minoprio 2-0 to gain a semi-final spot.
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