Julian Wilson down Gabriel Medina to step into the final at Nike US Open of Surfing
Australia’s Julian Wilson guaranteed himself a shot at the Nike US Open of Surfing Title after managing to outperform Brazil’s Gabriel Medina in the second Semi-final that went down at Huntington Beach in California, America, on Sunday, August 5.
The battle turned out to be an intense affair, with both the rising surfing stars fighting tooth-and-nail until the very last minute. Once the dust settled, Medina found himself just short of his rival’s score and therefore was forced exit the race for the
event title after looking so formidable throughout the week.
There waves breaking at the primary event site offered plenty of juice for the immensely talented surfers to put their exquisite skills on display.
As the battle for earning a shot at the title got underway, both Wilson and Medina got off to an energetic starts, making their determination to settle for nothing less than victory quite apparent. The crowd in attendance knew instantly that they were about
to get treated to a fiery showdown.
After going through a series of average scores, Wilson posted a 6.33 on the score-board, but Medina took an upper-hand in the heat with a 7.50 off his first business-wave.
The two continued to exchange blows as the heat progressed. The Brazilian sensation eventually added an additional 6.87 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total of 14.37 points.
Trailing his rival until the last minute, Wilson got his hands on a high-performance wave in the dying moments of the heat. Fully realising just how important it was to make the most of the opportunity, the Australian surfer gave it his all and successfully
managed to earn an 8.37 off it in the end. The score was just what he required to surpass his rival, finishing with a heat-total of 14.70 points.
Despite losing in semi-finals, there was no doubt that Medina has been on fire since arriving in Huntington Beach over a week ago. The Brazilian surfer was responsible for a series of superb performances, including a 10-point ride, courtesy of an inverted
back-side, full rotation air that allowed him to get the better of his compatriot Adriano de Souza in the quarter-finals.
With the fate of the second Semi-final decided, Wilson got ready to take on yet another Brazilian, Miguel Pupo, in the Final.
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