Alejo Muniz clinches top honours in Round 1 of Quiksilver Pro New York – 2011 ASP World Tour
Brazil’s Alejo Muniz got off to a great start at Quiksilver Pro New York by prevailing over Australia’s Adrian Buchan and USA’s Cory Lopez in the seventh heat of Round 1 at Long Beach in New York, on Tuesday, September 6.
Clinching success in the three-man battle allowed Muniz to secure his place in the third round, while Buchan and Lopez got relegated to Round 3 after rounding out the second and third positions respectively.
The heat featured an extremely nail-biting contest between Muniz and Buchan, with both the surfers managing to stay at par with each other in terms of performance.
As the battle commenced, the 21-year-old Muniz got down to business right away and locked a wave to pull off a series of powerful rail-gouges on his forehand, earning 7.10 points for the effort. However, his lead was short-lived as Buchan responded with
a 7.57-point wave to take the upper hand.
As the heat entered its final minutes, Buchan caught another wave to add an additional 6.70 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 14.27 points. Muniz managed to rise up to the occasion and locked his second business-wave to pull off a string of
critical backhand turns, adding another 7.30 points to his account. The two-wave total of 14.40 points allowed him to edge past his Australian rival to clinch top honours and move directly to the third round.
Commenting on the heat afterwards, Muniz said, “It's pretty fun. It's not that big, but there are still a couple bigger waves and I have a good board for small waves. I just tried to have fun. I started a little slow and my strategy was to go left, but my
best wave was on the right and I improved throughout the heat. I always try to do big turns even though it's small.”
Lopez failed to make a solid impact during the 30-minute heat and eventually had to settle for third place after finishing with a heat-total of 12.97 points.
Buchan and Lopez may have lost their first battle, but they still have an opportunity to extend their life in the event by capturing success in their Round 2 heat.
Tags: