Michel Bourez and Raoni Monteiro survive Round 2 pressure at Rip Curl Pro Portugal
French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez and Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro prevailed in their respective Round 2 heats at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal, the eighth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, which went down
at Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Saturday, October 13.
Bourez got the better of Brazil’s Jadson Andre in the fifth heat to confirm his spot in the third round, bringing the competition to a quick end for his rival in the process.
The sixth heat saw Brazil’s Miguel Pupo lose to Monteiro, getting eliminated from the contention for the event title in the process while allowing his rival to go through into the next round.
The huge crowd in attendance, along with the large audience following the thrilling action through live webcast hardly had any doubt regarding the heavy dose of action that awaited them at the main event site of Supertubos, which was being graced by three-to-five
foot waves on the first active day of the latest elite tour event.
Bourez and Andre had failed to make much of an impact in their Round 1 heat during the morning session and therefore found themselves pitted against each other in a battle for survival, with the loser to find himself eliminated from the competition.
As the action got underway, the French Polynesian surfer wasted no time to leave the crowd stunned in awe as he utilised a massive wave to register a perfect 10 score on the score-board.
After a lengthy search, he added an additional 5.73 points to his account, thus reaching a heat-total of 15.73 points.
Andre got off to a very slow start, earning a 3.00 off his first business-wave, but later backed it up with a 7.93-point wave, thus eventually finishing with a hardly threatening score of 10.93 points.
The sixth heat saw Monteiro and Pupo square it off for the Round 3 spot in a man-on-man battle, with the pressure of elimination hanging over their heads.
As the heat got underway, Monteiro got off to a confident start, earning a 6.33 off his first business-wave and later added an additional 8.67 points to his account, thus finishing with a heat-total of 15.00 points.
Pupo put up a desperate fight, but was only able to get to a heat-total of 12.93 points, which comprised of a 6.00 and 6.93-point ride, thus conceding victory to his rival.
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