Joel Parkinson defeats Alejo Muniz to earn Rip Curl Pro Search title shot – 2011 ASP World Tour
Rip Curl Pro Search Francisco, stop number 10 of 11 on the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, continued to deliver a heavy dose of thrilling action as Australia’s Joel Parkinson squared off with Brazil’s Alejo Muniz in the second
Semi-Final that went down at the Ocean Beach in San Francisco, America, on Monday, November 7.
The match-up turned out to be a real nail-biter as neither of the two semi-finalists seemed to be in a mood to step off their surfboards without securing a spot in the Final. As the battle ended, however, it was Parkinson who managed to clinch the win and
advance through into the Finals while eliminating Muniz from the competition.
The current season of the elite ASP Tour has seen Parkinson in the form of his life. The 30-year-old Australian came up with outstanding performances at nearly all the events and managed to go all the way to collect the over-all victory at Rip Curl Pro Bells
Beach in Australia earlier in the year. Sitting in the top-five on the ASP World Title rankings, Parkinson came to Ocean Beach to cement his spot on the ranking by collecting a good result. After going through the earlier rounds of the competition without
sustaining any serious damage, he reached the Semi-Final to compete for the coveted title-shot on offer.
Facing Parkinson in the second Semi-Final was Muniz, the Brazilian who had been nothing short of sensational at Rip Curl Pro Search so far. He followed one epic performance with another to drill through the competition during the early rounds and looked
as deadly as ever prior to taking Parkinson.
As the second Semi-Final kicked off, Muniz wasted no time in making a charge and locked a wave to collect 7.17 points off it. Parkinson had no intention of letting his rival relax and responded strongly with a 7.37-point wave to take the lead.
As the heat progressed, both the surfers kept hunting for another competitive score. Muniz managed to add an additional 7.17 points to his account, taking his heat-total to 14.34 points. With very little time left at hand before the buzzer was to go off,
Parkinson needed to come up with the necessary score. His determined effort paid off as he caught the final way of the battle to post a 7.60 on the score-board, consequently moving to a heat-total of 14.97 points and sealing the fate of the contest in his
favour.
The victory guaranteed Parkinson a title shot while marking the end of the road for Muniz yet again. The Australian surfer was to face Brazil’s Gabriel Medina in the Final to get his hands on his second over-all victory of the season.
For updates on Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco Final, stay tuned to bettor.com.
Tags: