Kelly Slater outdone by Miguel Pupo in the first Semi-final at Nike US Open of Surfing
Brazil’s Miguel Pupo was responsible for the upset of Nike US Open of Surfing as he managed to get the better of America’s Kelly Slater in the first Semi-final that went down at Huntington Beach in California, America, on Sunday, August 5.
The battle between the rising Brazilian star and 11-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion was expected to be interesting, but there were not too many people who had expected the result that eventually came out.
There was hardly any doubt about the formidable form that Pupo was in throughout the week, showing a lot of consistency and smoothly navigating his way to the semi-finals after adding some of the top surfing talent from around the globe to his list of victims.
However, getting pitted against the likes of Slater at such a crucial point in an event was definitely nerve-wrecking and for obvious reasons. The Florida-based surfer was unarguably the most dominating surfer in the world. The fact that he had walked away
with top honours from last year’s edition of Nike US Open of Surfing was not much help for Pupo either.
With solid surfing conditions prevailing at the event site, the showdown between the Brazilian sensation and surfing legend began.
The 40-year old Slater got down to business right away, getting hold of a juicy wave to post a 7.33 on the score-board in the opening minutes of the heat. He later added another 6.00 points to his account, which took him to a heat-total of 13.33 points.
Rather than getting intimidated by his opponent, Pupo stepped up to meet the challenge head on. After collected a couple of average scores, he locked a potent scoring opportunity to unload a series of stylish manoeuvres, earning an 8.83 for the effort. In
the final minutes of the man-on-man bout, the Brazilian surfer found a 7.50-point ride to reach a heat-total of 16.33 points. The superb last-minute effort served to seal the fate of the bout in his favour, consequently earning him a shot at the event title.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, Slater was all praises for his young opponent, commending him on his consistency and exquisite performances over the last week.
“I never really felt like I got it going all week,” Slater said. “Miguel (Pupo) and Medina (Gabriel Medina) have been so consistent, getting 9s every heat and they are tough to beat out there. If you’re going to beat them out there you really need to be
on you’re a-game. These are the waves they grew up surfing and this is their bread and butter.”
The first Semi-final had turned out to be exhilarating, living up to the expectations of the crowd. There was still a heavy dose of exciting in store for the fans as the event moved on to its last-two heats.
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