Mick Fanning downs Alejo Muniz to enter Billabong Rio Pro Semi-finals – Surfing News
Australia’s Mick Fanning made his way through into the Semi-finals at Billabong Rio Pro after prevailing over Brazil’s Alejo Muniz in the second Quarter-final that went down at the main event site of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday,
May 16.
The man-on-man bout for the Semi-final spot turned out to be pretty one sided, with Fanning completely stealing the show with his exquisite performance.
The three-to-four foot barrels on offer at the primary event site acted as an ideal canvas for the world’s best surfers to put their impressive skills on display. A huge crowd had shown up at the beach to witness the battles between the surfing heavy-weights
as they took each other on to try and step closer to a shot at the event title.
Fanning, the two-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion, had been in an intimidating form since the start of the season. He brought his solid form to Brazil to put on a series of exquisite performances. After a stumble in the fourth
round, the Australian phenom was forced to take a longer and tougher road into the Quarter-final, but was successful in reaching there in the end.
Pitted against Fanning in the second Quarter-final was Muniz. The local sensation had been nothing short of impressive during the previous rounds and was expected to offer a strong challenge to his rival in the battle for the Semi-final spot.
As the second Quarter-final got underway, Fanning did not waste too much time in stamping his authority in the heat. Locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the battle, the 30-year-old Australian unloaded a series of spectacular tricks
to post an 8.00 on the score-board. He soon backed it up with an 8.57-point ride to finish with a heat-total of 16.57 points.
Muniz failed to come up with an adequate response to his rival’s spectacular performance. Scoring a 3.40 and 2.50 off his best-two waves, the Brazilian surfer finished with a heat-total of 5.90 points. The lacklustre performance forced him to concede victory
and thus the Semi-final spot to Fanning.
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