Julian Wilson downs Miguel Pupo in the second semi-final of Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2011
The second semi-final of Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2011 went down at the Ribeira D’Ilhas beach in Ericeira, Portugal, on Saturday, June 18th.
The showdown between Australia’s Julian Wilson and Brazil’s Miguel Pupo concluded with the Australian clinching the win to confirm his place in the final of the sixth Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year.
The second semi-final was expected to be real intense, as both surfers seemed to be at the top of their game at the moment. Both Pupo and Wilson were considered among the favourites to win the event and the two surfers had been doing justice to the hype
that surrounded them indeed.
Pupo had already tasted an ASP Prime event victory a couple of months ago, walking away with top honours from the Nike Lowers Pro that was held at the Lowers Trestles in California, USA. However, his performance over the past few days clearly indicated his
hunger for another title.
The 19-year-old Brazilian had remained consistent and, arguably, dominant in almost all his heats during the latest edition of the Quiksilver Pro Portugal to reach the semi-finals.
However, Pupo was not the only one who had remained threatening and dominant. Wilson had dominated all of the surfers that he had faced yet, except for New Zealand’s Jay Quinn in Round 4. However, the 22-year-old had avenged the Round 4 failure by ousting
Quinn from the competition in the quarter-finals. Now, nobody left in the title race could claim to have downed the Australian in the past week.
The surfing conditions at the main event site turned out to be quite suitable for the epic battle between two of the most in-form surfers present in Ericeira. The high tides and four-to-five foot waves breaking at the beach were mouth-watering, making the
fans expect a heavy dose of breath-taking and thrilling surfing action.
However, the match-up turned out to be quite a one-man show, with Wilson dominating his Brazilian rival in the battle for the coveted final slot.
As the heat commenced, the Australian got down to business right away, locking a wave to throw down a set of flips and turns to earn 8.87 points for the effort. Such a high score on the very first wave placed Pupo under immense pressure.
However, apparently Wilson wasn’t quite done yet. He followed his excellent first wave with an almost similar second-wave, scoring 8.17 points off it, to move to a heat-total of 17.04 points.
While Pupo had been extremely impressive throughout the event, he clearly wasn’t prepared for such an onslaught. He ended up succumbing to the challenge, scoring 3.50 points off his first wave and 7.87 off his second to finish with a two-wave total of 11.37
points.
The fate of the heat was decided with Wilson emerging triumphant after a weak response from the Brazilian.
After a successful semi-final, Wilson headed to the final, where the in-form Brazilian Gabriel Medina awaited him.
For updates on the Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2011 final, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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