Gabriel Medina and Jeremy Flores claim Round 1 success at Rip Curl Pro Portugal
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and France’s Jeremy Flores made the Round 3 cut at Rip Curl Pro Portugal, the eighth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after claiming top honours in their respective Round
1 heat that went down at Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Saturday, October 13.
Medina defeated his fellow countryperson Miguel Pupo and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson in the ninth heat to secure his place in the third round, forcing both his rivals to surf again for the Round 3 spot in the second round.
The 10th heat saw Flores getting the better of Australia’s Adam Melling and French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez to jump straight into the third round, relegating both his rivals into the second round.
With three-to-five foot waves on offer at the primary event site, the large crowd in attendance as well as the massive global audience following the event through live webcast expected the day to be full of mesmerising performances and intense battles between
the elite ASP surfers.
Medina, current No. 9 on the ASP World Championship Tour rankings, was up against the intimidating Wilkinson and promising Pupo in a battle for the Round 3 spot.
Taking the challenge head on, the 18-year-old Brazilian put on an energetic performance, locking wave after wave while searching for a couple of solid scores.
His efforts earned him a 6.50 and a perfect 10, courtesy of an impressive forehand barrel followed by an impressive forehand air, to finish with a heat-total of 16.50 points.
Wilkinson earned a 5.33 and 8.50 off his best-two waves to get to a heat-total of 13.83 points, thus finishing in second place.
Pupo finished third after scoring a 7.67 and 4.00 off his best-two waves to register a heat-total of 11.67 points.
The 10th heat saw Flores walk away with the win after relegating Melling and Bourez into the second round.
The French surfer went to work early in the heat, getting hold of a juicy wave to post a 7.50 on the score-board.
After a long and desperate search, he managed to back it up with a 6.50-point ride, thus finishing with a winning heat-total of 14.00 points.
Melling earned a 3.27 off his first business-wave and backed it up with an 8.60-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 11.87 points.
Bourez finished third after scoring a 3.50 and 6.17 off his best-two waves to register a heat-total of 9.67 points.
The action continued at Supertubos with the remaining heats of Rip Curl Pro Portugal’s Round 1.
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