Gabriel Medina downs Matt Wilkinson to enter Rip Curl Pro Search Quarter-Finals – 2011 ASP World Tour
Looking to pick themselves up after tasting defeating in the fourth round, Australia’s Matt Wilkinson and Brazil’s Gabriel Medina found themselves pitted against each other in a battle for survival during the second heat of Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco’s
Round 5 that went down at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, America, on Monday, November 7.
The crowd got treated to an epic 30 minutes as the two surfers pushed each other to the limit while contesting for the Quarter-Final spot. In the end, however, Medina’s effort carried him off to victory, though just barely, consequently confirming his place
in the next stage of the competition while marking the end for the road for Wilkinson.
Wilkinson had been simply outstanding during the first and third day of the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour event, clinching a couple of confident wins despite facing an extremely talented opposition. However, things had not
quite gone his way during the fourth heat and forced him to take the long road towards the Quarter-Finals.
In order to go through to the next stage of the event, the Australian needed to pass through Medina. The 17-year-old Brazilian has been simply on fire for the last month, i.e. since getting incepted in the ASP World Tour following the mid-year break. He
had consistently given his rivals a real tough run for their money and the latest event of the elite tour had been no exception. After a couple of spectacular performances, Medina ended up faltering in the fourth round to get relegated to Round 5.
Once the second heat of Round 5 begun, both Medina and Wilkinson struggled to get their hands on a good score during the early stages. Despite clean three-to-five foot waves on offer, Medina and Wilkinson had a tough time pulling off their tricks cleanly.
As the battle entered its final moments, Medina broke free of the shackles and picked a relatively juicy wave to score a 6.93 off it. Keeping the charge going, he immediately followed it up with a 7.00-point wave to move to a heat-total of 13.93 points.
Wilkinson suddenly realised that he was running out of time and needed to make his move quick. He locked a wave to score a 6.43 off it and immediately locked another wave, his final, to give it his all. The final effort only earned him a 7.27, taking his
heat-total to 13.70 points. The 0.23-point deficit forced him to surrender victory to Medina, sending the young Brazilian prodigy into the Quarter-Finals.
For more updates on Round 5 of Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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