Gabriel Medina beats odds in Round 4 heat to qualify for quarter-finals at Volcom Fiji Pro
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina put on a solid performance to claim top honours in the second heat of Volcom Fiji Pro’s Round 4 that went down at the secondary event site of Restaurants in Tavarua, Fiji, on Saturday, June 9.
Australia’s Joel Parkinson finished in second place, whereas his fellow countryperson Mick Fanning had to settle for a third-place finish.
With his success in the Round 4 heat, Medina advanced directly into the quarter-finals, whereas both Parkinson and Fanning found themselves relegated to the fifth round, required to surf again to qualify for the next stage of the competition.
The massive swells at the main venue of Cloudbreak did not strike as very organised to the event organisers, who opted to move the proceedings of the fourth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, to Restaurants
to get done with the third and fourth round. The draining four-to-six foot waves on offer promising to serve as an ideal stage for the surfers to put their exquisite skills on exhibition, while at the same time contributing heavily to the intensity in the
battles for survival.
The second heat of Round 4 promised to be nothing short of epic as Parkinson, current No.1 on the ASP World Title rankings, took on Fanning, former two-time ASP World Champion, as well as Medina, the young Brazilian sensation who had proved wise beyond his
years on numerous occasions.
As the battle got underway, Parkinson drew first blood with a 4.67-point ride and immediately backed it up with a superb 9.50-point ride to move to a heat-total of 14.17 points.
Fanning struggled a bit to get his hands on the potent scoring opportunities and eventually had to settle for a heat-total of 11.67 points, which included a 7.00 and 4.67-point ride.
Medina started off slow, but gradually built momentum to post a 7.33 on the score-board halfway through the heat. He sat in need of a big score with anyone a few seconds left in the heat. Locking a wave in the final-few seconds, the Brazilian young gun unloaded
a string of forehand turns and aerials to earn a 7.83 for the commendable effort, reaching a heat-total of 15.16 as a result. The score held up until the end to earn him the win and consequently carry him through into the next round.
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