Alejo Muniz and Bede Durbidge secure Round 3 spot after Round 2 win at O’Neill Coldwater Classic
Brazil’s Alejo Muniz and Australia’s Bede Durbidge survived their respective Round 2 heats at the O’Neill Coldwater Classic, the ninth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, which went down at the main
point-break of Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, California, on Sunday, November 4, 2012.
Muniz got his hands on victory, though just barely, after finishing on top of his compatriot Miguel Pupo in the 11th heat, making his way into the Round 3 while sending his rival packing in the process.
The 12th heat saw Durbidge claim a convincing victory over America’s Brett Simpson to earn his place in the Round 3 field while bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival in the process.
With tough surfing conditions prevailing at the primary event site on the latest day of the competition, the elite ASP surfers had their work cut out for them, especially taking into consideration the fact that failure to finish on top meant getting eliminated
from the competition.
Pitted against Pupo in a must-win situation during the 11th heat, Muniz did not wait too long before making his charge to try getting into a favourable position.
Locking his first wave in the opening minutes of the man-on-man battle, the Brazilian surfer posted a 6.33 on the score-board, but the lead did not hold as Pupo got past him with an impressive 7.23 off his first business-wave.
As the heat progressed, Muniz added an additional 8.77 points to his account, thus reaching a heat-total of 15.10 points.
Pupo responded with another score in the seven-point range, but it took him to a heat-total of 15.06 points, merely 0.04 points short of the required score and thus forced him to concede the Round 3 spot to his rival.
The 12th heat saw Durbidge claim victory over Simpson and that too with a rather convincing margin.
The Australian surfer opened his account with a 5.83-point ride in the opening minutes of the heat and backed it up with an impressive 7.57-point wave in the dying minutes, thus finishing with a heat-total of 13.40 points.
Simpson, in response, posted a 7.00 and 2.07 on the score-board off his best-two waves, thus registering an inadequate heat-total of 9.07 points.
This resulted in his elimination from the competition on one hand and served as a ticket for Durbidge into the third round on the other hand.
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