Gabriel Medina and Adam Melling advance to semi-finals at Vans World Cup of Surfing
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and Australia’s Adam Melling made it through into the semi-finals at the Vans World Cup of Surfing, second jewel on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, after emerging triumphant in their respective quarter-final
heats that went down at Sunset Beach in Oahu, Hawaii, on Tuesday, December 4, 2012.
Australia’s Perth Standlick accompanied Medina into the next stage of the competition after finishing behind the latter in second place during the third quarter-final. South Africa’s Jordy Smith finished third, while America’s Nathan Yeomans had to settle
for fourth place, which resulted in their ejection from the contention for the event title.
The fourth quarter-final saw Brazil’s Alejo Muniz claim second place to accompany Melling into the semi-finals. America’s Brett Simpson finished in third place, while Brazil’s Ricardo Dos Santos had to settle for fourth place. The bottom-two positions resulted
in the elimination of both the surfers from the competition.
The excitement and intensity rose to an entirely new level on the latest and final day of the competition. With their sights set on the coveted prize purse and Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) ranking points that were on offer, the surfers continued
to deliver exquisite performances.
The third quarter-final saw Medina get the better of Standlick, Smith and Yeomans in the four-man battle for the semi-finals.
The Brazilian child-prodigy put on a solid performance during the course of the heat. Locking his first business-wave, he posted a 7.87 on the score-board and went on to back it up with a 7.67-point ride, thus registering a decisive heat-total of 15.54 points.
Standlick finished in second place with a heat-total of 10.83 points, which included a 7.83 and 3.00-point wave.
Smith and Yeomans rounded out the bottom-two positions after putting up a heat-total of 10.33 and 5.47 points respectively.
The battle for the final two slots in the semi-finals took place between Melling, Muniz, Simpson and Dos Santos.
The Australian surfer went on a rampage during the heat, oozing an immense amount of confidence and determination. Collecting a 9.40 and 9.00 off his best-two waves, he netted a heat-total of 18.40 points, the biggest heat-total of the competition.
Muniz was pretty impressive himself, though his two-wave total of 15.94 points, which included a 9.27 and 6.67-point ride, just was not enough to earn him top place.
Simpson finished third with a heat-total of 15.70 points, while Dos Santos had to settle for fourth place after putting on a heat-total of 10.13 points.
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