Alejo Muniz and Brett Simpson emerge triumphant in Round 1 at Quiksilver Pro France
Brazil’s Alejo Muniz and America’s Brett Simpson successfully qualified for the third round at the Quiksilver Pro France, the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after claiming top honours
in their respective Round 1 heats that took place at La Graviere in Hossegor, France, on Friday, September 28.
Muniz secured his place in the third round after getting the better of America’s Kolohe Andino and Australia’s Josh Kerr in the seventh heat, sending both his rivals into the second round to surf again for the Round 3 spot.
The eighth heat saw Simpson prevail over Australia’s Yadin Nicol and France’s Jeremy Flores to advance to the third round, forcing both his rivals to take a trip to the relegation round to have another shot at the Round 3 spot.
The crowd in attendance and the huge global audience catching the action live through webcast had no doubt that they were going to get treated with a heavy dose of enthralling action as the heavy-weights of surfing gathered in France to continue their campaign
for the most coveted honour in the sport.
Muniz found himself pitted against Andino and Kerr in a three-man battle during the seventh heat. The Brazilian surfer wasted no time in getting down to business and attacked a wave right away to post a 6.83 on the score-board. Half-way through the heat,
he got hold of an impressive 8.00-point ride, which took him to a heat-total of 14.83 points. The score held up until the end to earn him the win.
Andino collected an 8.20 off his first business-wave to remain a threat for Muniz, but failed to back it up with another good score and had to settle for a heat-total of 12.97 points after scoring a 4.77 off his second business-wave in the final minutes
of the heat.
Kerr scored a 4.50 and 5.50 off his best-two waves to register a heat-total of 10.00 points, which was only good enough to put him in bottom place.
The eighth heat saw Simpson confirm his place in the third round without having the need to surf in Round 2 after getting the better of Nicol and Flores.
The American surfer scored a 4.50 off his first business-wave and backed it up with a 7.17-point ride, this finishing with a heat-total of 11.67 points.
Nicol finished with a heat-total of 10.70 points, which included a 6.17 and 4.53-point ride, whereas Flores scored a 5.00 and 2.83 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 7.83 points.
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