Tiago Pires and Alejo Muniz prevail in Round 2 of Quiksilver Pro France – 2011 ASP World Tour
The crowd kept getting treated to a heavy dose of action as Portugal’s Tiago Pires took on Australia’s Josh Kerr in the fourth heat, while Brazil’s Alejo Muniz squared off with Hawaii’s John John Florence in the fifth heat of Quiksilver Pro France’s Round
2 on Thursday, October 6, at the renowned beach-break of La Graviere in France.
The fourth heat saw Pires put up a really impressive performance on a couple of good waves to seal the fate of the contest in his favour and go through into the third round, while eliminating Kerr from the competition in the process.
Muniz and Florence fought for the Round 3 spot until the very last minute of the fifth heat, but in the end the Brazilian managed to wrap his fingers around the win to stay alive in the race for the event-title, while bringing the competition to a premature
end for his rival.
The uncertain nature of the six-to-seven foot waves were turning out to be quite a nuisance for the surfers as they engaged in a battle for survival and desperate hunt for a good score while reaching out for the win.
As the fourth heat got underway, the 31-year-old Pires did exceptionally well to adjust to the tricky surfing conditions. Luck seemed to be on his side as well as he found a juicy wave come his way early in the heat. He utilised the opportunity to pull out
an exquisite trick from his arsenal and posted a 7.50 on the score-board to get a huge lead over his rival. A few minutes later, he scored a 5.60 off a barrel to move to a heat-total of 13.10 points.
Kerr had been exceptional during the previous stops of the ASP elite tour. However, the waves of France were turning out to be really unkind to him and he struggled to navigate them. Despite a desperate effort to land a good score in his Round 2 heat to
stay alive in the competition, the Australian was only able to get to a heat-total of 11.76 points, which included a 4.93 and 6.83-point wave. Evidently insufficient, the score forced him to concede victory to his Portuguese rival.
Talking to a reporter afterwards, Pires said, “It's really hard out there this morning. There are some really good ones, but the water is moving so much. It's challenging. I was fortunate to find a really good one that stayed open and I got a pretty decent
barrel. Josh [Kerr] has been in really good form the last few events so I'm happy to get past him.”
The fifth saw Muniz take on Florence, who was recently incepted in the ASP World Tour. The showdown between the two young surfers turned out to be quite intense, with neither of them giving up until the very end.
As the battle kicked off, Muniz clinched a 5.00 off his first business-wave to grab an advantage over his rival. Adding an additional 7.00 points to his account, the Brazilian reached a heat-total of 12.00 points. The score eventually carried him off to
victory, though Florence did not allow him to relax until the very last minute of the heat.
The Hawaiian got off to a shaky start, struggling to hold his own in the difficult surfing conditions. However, he made a charge in the final minutes of the heat and collected a 3.53 and an outstanding 8.33-point wave. The last-minute effort turned out to
be futile and was unable to save him from getting eliminated from the competition.
For more updates on Round 2 of Quiksilver Pro France, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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