Gabriel Medina powers into Round 3 of Rip Curl Pro Search – 2011 ASP World Tour
The Brazilian wonder-kid Gabriel Medina came up with a sensational performance to walk away with top honours from the ninth heat of Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco’s Round 1 that went down at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, America, on Tuesday, November
1. The convincing victory carried him off directly into the third round.
Brazil’s Miguel Pupo failed to put up an impressive show and despite a desperate hunt, he was only able to get his hands on the runner-up place. Australia’s Kieren Perrow was unable to make a solid impact during the heat and eventually finished in third
place. The failure to clinch top honours moved both Pupo and Perrow into Round 2.
The 17-year-old Medina had gotten incepted in the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour after the mid-year cut and took no time to justify his place among the ranks of the elite ASP Surfers. He had already proven to be wise beyond his
years by overcoming an intimidating field of surfers to walk away with an over-all win at Quiksilver Pro France, adding an elite victory to his resume’.
Coming to San Francisco for the 10th stop of the World Tour, Medina wasted no time in making a strong statement through his excellent performance during his opening heat of the competition.
Pitted against his compatriot Pupo and Australia’s Perrow in the ninth heat of Round 1, Medina took his time to build momentum. As the heat moved past the half-way mark, the young Brazilian force unleashed the beast within and locked a wave to post a 6.50
on the score-board. Not quite done yet, he soon added an 8.00 to his account, moving to a heat-total of 14.50 points. The score served to seal the fate of the contest in his favour and sent him through into Round 3.
Pupo failed to come up with a decent response to his countryman’s charge and eventually finished in second place after scoring a 5.33 and 5.77 off his top-two waves for a heat-total of 11.10 points.
The most experienced of the lot, Perrow, failed to make a solid impact during the 30-minute battle either. After getting off to a shaky start, the Australian tried to bounce back with a 7.67-point wave, but it turned out to be too late for recovery, He eventually
finished in third place with a heat-total of 9.77 points.
Pupo and Perrow may have failed to perform in their Round 1 heat, but the two still had an opportunity to extend their life in the event by making up for their early defeat in the second round.
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