Jonathan Gonzalez deprives Gabriel Medina of the win in Round 1 of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime
Venezuela’s Jonathan Gonzalez successfully advanced into the second round (Round of 48) of the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime after barely clinching the win in the 13th heat of Round 1 (Round of 96) that continued at the point-break of Itauna Break
in Saquarema, Brazil, on Tuesday, May 22.
The No.2 seed of the event Gabriel Medina from Brazil made a second-place finish and thus confirmed his place in the second round as well. His compatriot Caio Ibelli and France’s Marc Lacomare failed to qualify for the next round after finishing in third
and fourth place respectively.
The surfing conditions prevailing at Itauna Beach on the opening day of the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME event promised a series of solid performance throughout the day. Some of the best surfing talent from all corners of the world
had turned up at the competition site to have a go at the event title. A huge prize purse of $US 250,000 and coveted 850 ASP ranking points for the winner served to motivate the surfers even further, thus keeping the large crowd in attendance at the event
site thoroughly entertained.
The 13th heat of Round 1 saw Gonzalez face three intimidating competitors in a four-man battle. Two of his rivals were more familiar with the surfing conditions on hand than he was, therefore putting him at a slight disadvantage.
Rather than cowering under pressure, the Venezuelan surfer stepped up to put on a strong performance. Locking his first business-wave halfway through the heat, Gonzalez unloaded a series of exquisite tricks to post an 8.50 on the score-board. He went on
to add a 5.23 to his account in the final minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 13.73 points. The score remained unbeatable until the end of the heat to see him through to victory.
Medina put up a tough fight to try and get past Gonzalez on the score-board, but to no avail. The young Brazilian sensation and ASP World Tour rookie rode many waves during the course of the heat to try and find a good score, but just couldn’t manage to
post a big enough score to his account. His best scores of 7.17 and 6.33 got him to a heat-total of 13.50 points, just 0.23 points behind that of his Venezuelan rival. As a result, he had no choice but to settle for runner-up place.
“The important thing is to get into the Round of 48,” said Medina after the heat. “I was able to do that and now I just have to loosen up and just surf my next heats more relaxed.”
Ibelli finished third with a heat-total of 11.50 points, while Lacomare’s dismissal performance only got him to a heat-total of 10.83 points, thus putting him in fourth place. Both the surfers found the fourth ASP PRIME event of the year coming to an early
end for him.
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