Gabriel Medina prevails over Bede Durbidge in Round 3 of Quiksilver Pro France – 2011 ASP World Tour
The surfing action continued at the renowned beach-break of Le Graviere in France on Sunday, October 9, as the latest stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Quiksilver Pro France, pitted Brazil’s Gabriel Medina against Australia’s
Bede Durbidge in the fifth heat of Round 3.
Medina came up with a really impressive charge at the last minute of the battle to walk away with top honours, consequently confirming his place in the fourth round while pushing his opponent, Durbidge, out of the competition.
The clean five-foot waves looked extremely promising but their unpredictable nature had the surfers struggling during their hunt for good scores. The contestants could not manage to seal the fate of the battles in their favour though their skills and luck
alone and depended heavily on their luck, hoping for a blessing from Mother Nature in form of an extremely juicy wave that would allow them to go for the more advanced and technical tricks in their arsenal.
Making his place among the ranks of the elite ASP surfers following the September mid-year cut, the 17-year-old Medina had been extremely impressive in the waves of La Graviere so far. He seemed to handle the pressure of facing intimidating competition quite
well and was one of the few surfers who managed to adjust to the tricky surfing conditions.
As his battle against the more-experienced and ASP World Tour veteran, Durbidge, got underway in the fifth heat of Round 3, the Brazilian got down to business right from the word go and locked a wave in the opening minutes to post a 4.83 on the score-board
to get things in motion. However, he was soon stripped of the volatile lead by his Australian rival, who collected a 5.83 off his first business-wave.
A few minutes later, Durbidge managed to increase his lead over Medina by adding an additional 5.13 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 10.96 points. Pressure began to mount on the Brazilian as the heat progressed and he failed to get his hands
on a decent wave.
Just when it seemed that the match had slipped out of his hands, Medina caught a wave in the dying minutes of the heat to unload aerial for a decisive 7.73, climbing to a winning heat-total of 12.56 points.
During his post-heat interview, Medina said, “It was a very tough heat for me. Bede [Durbidge] is an excellent surfer. I was only able to turn the heat in the last seconds. France is a special place for me. I won the ‘King of the Groms' event two years
ago and now I'm in the main event. It's a great feeling. The waves and weather are great and I'm very stoked to have the support of my family here with me.”
His superb come-from-behind victory sent him through to Round 4, where he will compete for a place in the Quarter-Finals.
For more updates on Round 3 of Quiksilver Pro France, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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