Heitor Alves defeats Joel Parkinson in Round 5 of Quiksilver Pro New York – 2011 ASP World Tour
The exhilarating 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour action continued with the third heat of Quiksilver Pro New York’s Round 5, which went down at Long Beach, New York, on Thursday afternoon, September 8.
The heat saw Brazil’s Heitor Alves barely edge past Australia’s Joel Parkinson to clinch top honours and secure his place in the quarter-finals, bringing the competition to a premature end for his opponent.
Despite a disappointing result in the fourth round, where he lost to Brazil’s Alejo Muniz, the 29-year-old Alves was definitely turning out to be the surfer of the day, earning boasting rights for creating not one, but two upsets.
Earlier in the day, he had been pitted against the former two-time ASP World Champion from Australia, Mick Fanning, in a sudden-death Round 3 battle. The Brazilian had come up with an outstanding performance to take his intimidating opponent down and eliminate
him from the competition.
With a defeat in Round 4, Alves found himself facing another intimidating surfer from Australia, Parkinson. The 30-year-old Australian had managed to make a solid impact in nearly all of the elite tour events so far and was a favourite to take the win in
his Round 5 bout against Alves.
As the battle kicked off, the Brazilian got down to business right away, locking a wave to score 5.67 points off it. Parkinson immediately responded with an impressive 7.67-point wave to snatch the lead.
Almost halfway through the heat, the Australian added an additional 5.33 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 13.00 points. Alves needed to get a good score off his second business-wave in order to edge past his rival and remain alive in the
competition.
After a determined search, the Brazilian caught a wave to exhibit some of the stylish tricks in his arsenal, collecting 7.90 points for the effort and moving to a heat-total of 13.57 points. This allowed him to clinch the win and move one step closer to
the event-title.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, Alves said, “I can't believe it. I'm so tired right now after surfing three heats and happy too. I beat Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning. Thanks to God for everything he has given me. I'm looking for my best result, maybe
I'll find it here.”
With his victory in the fifth round, Alves advanced to the quarter-finals where he’ll face his compatriot, Muniz.
For more updates on Round 5 of Quiksilver Pro New York, stay tuned to bettor.com
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