Adam Robertson and Chris Friend enter Round 2 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro – ASP Prime Event
Fans kept getting treated to intense surfing action at the ninth Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year, Billabong Azores Islands Pro, as the third heat of Round of 96 (Round 1) went down at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel,
Portugal, on Wednesday, September 28.
The heat saw Australia’s Adam Robertson make a late charge to walk away with top honours and advance through to the Round of 48 (Round 2). Australia’s Chris Friend successfully extended his life in the competition as well by finishing in runner-up place.
Brazil’s Luel Felipe finished in third place, while Hawaii’s Granger Larsen rounded out the bottom position. Both surfers were consequently removed from contention of the event’s title.
Surfing conditions turned out to be pretty ordinary on the opening day of Billabong Azores Pro Islands. While the waves gracing the primary event site were quite promising, the off-shore winds were keeping surfers from gaining full control of these waves,
as they ended up struggling to earn big scores.
Despite the demanding surfing conditions, the 29-year-old Robertson managed to come up with a decent performance. He did not have exceptional luck with the waves, but he strategically got-off to a cautious start and slowly built up momentum to eventually
catch his first business-wave, scoring 5.60 points off it.
He kept the determined hunt going and it was this persistence that allowed him to catch another juicy wave, which he utilised to pull out few impressive tricks from his arsenal and add an additional 7.00 points to his account. The second-wave score took
him to a decisive heat-total of 12.60 points, which earned him a convincing victory over his rivals and surged him to Round 2.
Another surfer who refused to completely succumb to the challenging conditions was Friend. The Australian caught wave after wave in his search for a good score. While the strategy seemed a bit crude, it worked out well for him as he eventually managed to
find a 4.13 and 5.57-point wave to reach a heat-total of 9.70 points and clinch the runner-up place. As a result, he got a ticket to the second round of the competition as well.
Felipe did not look too comfortable during the 30-minute heat and only managed to catch a couple of fours to reach a heat-total of 8.76 points. The most disappointing performance, however, came from Larsen. The Hawaiian seemed to have completely bowed down
in front of the challenging conditions and had little luck with catching waves or utilising the ones that he caught to earn a decent score.
Scoring 2.33 and 4.40 points off his best waves, he finished in fourth place with a heat-total of 6.73 points. Both, Felipe and Larsen were eliminated from the competition after rounding out the bottom-two positions.
For more updates on Round 1 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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