Adam Melling and Jeronimo Vargas surge into Round 2 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro: ASP Prime Event
The crowd kept getting treated to a heavy dose of thrilling action on the opening day of the ninth Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year, Billabong Azores Islands Pro, as the fourth heat of Round of 96 (Round 1) got underway
at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal.
The heat saw Australia’s Adam Melling come up with an outstanding and timely attack in the later stages to capture victory and confidently make his way through to the Round of 48 (Round 2). Brazil’s Jeronimo Vargas successfully extended his life in the event
by finishing in second place and qualifying for Round 2. His compatriot, Wiggolly Dantas, was added to the list of eliminations after finishing in third place. America’s Brad Ettinger also exited from the event after rounding out the bottom position.
While surfing conditions had been pretty demanding during the first three heats, the situation had improved a lot by the time the fifth heat commenced. The swells had increased significantly and the off-shore winds had become far less bothersome.
Pitted against Vargas, Dantas and Ettinger in a four-man battle, the 26-year-old Melling got-off to a really slow and rather shaky start. Not only did he have trouble catching waves in the beginning, he also had difficulty in pulling something solid off
them.
However, he gradually built momentum and eventually came across a deep clean fore-hand barrel. Desperate to break free of the shackles, he went all out on the barrel and ended up earning a perfect 10 for the spectacular stunt. Feeling much more confident
after the perfect score, the Australian soon locked another wave and scored 7.77 points off it to take his heat-total to 17.77 points. The score turned out to be a decisive one and sealed the heat in his favour.
Commenting on the perfect-scoring wave later on, Melling said, “It was awesome the way it came to me like that. I was behind the 8-ball for a bit and then that right came through. I just scraped into it and just got out of it so I was happy with that. A
couple of hours ago it was a different picture but now it has picked up and the tide has ped and there are some good barrels out there.”
Vargas remained pretty impressive throughout the entirety of the heat as well. He seemed to be in much better form than his Australian rival and clinched 6.87 off a wave early in the heat. Adding a near-perfect 9.63 to his account almost halfway through
the heat, the Brazilian seemed to be headed towards victory. However, the sudden onslaught by Melling deprived him of the desired outcome, though his effort did not go waste as he successfully advanced through to Round 2.
Dantas and Ettinger looked pretty promising during the four-man battle, though they failed to meet the standards that had been set by Melling and Vargas. Dantas finished in third place after finishing with a heat-total of 15.17 points, while Ettinger rounded
out the fourth position with a two-wave total of 14.44 points.
For more updates on Round 1 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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