Alejo Muniz off to an ideal start on day 1 at Volcom Fiji Pro – Surfing News

Alejo Muniz off to an ideal start on day 1 at Volcom Fiji Pro – Surfing News

Brazil’s Alejo Muniz advanced through into Round 3 at the fourth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion Series, Volcom Fiji Pro, after putting on a spectacular performance to claim top honours in the 12th heat of Round 1 that went down at the main venue of Cloudbreak in Tavarua, Fiji, on Sunday, June 3.

A lacklustre performance by Australia’s Adam Melling forced him to end up with a second-place finish, while French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez rounded out the third position due to a pretty ordinary performance. Both the surfers headed into the relegation Round 2 to take another shot at earning their place in the third round.

The surfing conditions prevailing at the open ocean reef pass on the opening day of the competition turned out to be nothing short of beautiful, with a clear weather and waves in the six-to-eight foot range gracing Cloudbreak. The elite surfers from around the globe found themselves facing plenty of challenge during their heats, which came from both rivals as well as the sea which was refusing to be too generous with potent scoring opportunities. However, the fans still got to witness plenty of thrilling action.

The 12th heat of Round 1 pitted Muniz against Melling and Bourez in a three-man battle for the Round 3 spot, with no pressure of elimination hanging over the head of the surfers. However, the opportunity to move directly into the third round was a strong enough push for the surfers to aim for nothing but the win.

As the battle got underway, it did not take Muniz too long to steal the show with his solid performance. The 22-year-old Brazilian powerhouse locked a left-hander in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 6.67 on the score-board and backed it up with an impressive 8.60-point ride, thus moving to a heat-total of 15.27 points. The score proved to be a decisive one, earning him a comprehensive victory.

“The waves are so beautiful today and I’m so stoked to get through that heat,” Muniz said during his post-heat interview. “I didn’t have a very good start this season, but I got a pretty good result at home in Brazil and hopefully I can keep getting through heats. I don’t want to stop surfing out here so I want to win as many heats as I can.”

Melling scored a 2.27 off his first business-wave, but stepped up in the later stages of the heat to back it up with a 7.70-point wave. However, the effort proved inadequate and only got him to second place.

Bourez finished behind his Australian rival in third place. He never looked in rhythm since the start of the battle and only managed to score a 6.93 and 2.77 off his best-two waves. As a result, he accompanied Melling into the relegation round.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=26833

Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Jun 5 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.