Miguel Pupo downs Matt Wilkinson to qualify for Volcom Fiji Pro – Surfing News
Brazil’s Miguel Pupo got the better of Australia’s Matt Wilkinson in the seventh heat of Volcom Fiji Pro’s Round 2 that went down at the main venue of Cloudbreak in Tavarua, Fiji, on Monday, June 4.
With his success in Round 2, the Brazilian young-gun made his way through into the third round, whereas the fourth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour came to a premature end for Wilkinson.
There was plenty of action expected on day 2 of the competition, owing to the fact that the surfers who had faltered during the opening round now stood on the edge with one final opportunity to keep themselves alive in contention for the event title. It
was justified to expect the heats to be intense, featuring performances that would be nothing short of spectacular. The coveted ASP World Title was still within the reach of majority of the elite tour contenders and thus the motivation to do well and register
good results was still pretty strong.
Pupo and Wilkinson were among the surfers who had suffered disappointment in their respective Round 1 heat. As they came across each other in the seventh heat of Round 2, both were aware that only one of them could go through, while the other was going to
get eliminated.
As the battle got underway, the experience of Wilkinson came into play as he got in a perfect position to lock a juicy left-hander in the opening minutes. Punctuating the wave with a flurry of turns, the Australian surfer posted a 7.83 on the score-board
to grab an early lead. After a long hunt, he eventually managed to back it up with an even more impressive 7.93-point ride, which took him to a heat-total of 15.76 points.
Pupo started off a bit shaky, but gradually built momentum to eventually really step up in the final minutes of the heat. The Brazilian sensation scored an 8.93 off his first business-wave and immediately followed it up with another score in the eight-point
range, thus finishing with a heat-total of 16.96 points. The score held up until the end to see him through into the next round of the competition.
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