Adriano de Souza clinches victory in Round 1 of Hurley Pro – 2011 ASP World Tour
Brazil’s Adriano de Souza came up with an outstanding performance on the opening day of Hurley Pro, the seventh stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, to secure victory in the ninth heat of Round 1 that went down at Lower
Trestles in California, America, on Sunday afternoon, September 18.
The 24-year-old De Souza walked away with top honours by defeating Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and Hawaii’s Dusty Payne, confirming his place in Round 3. Medina and Payne finished in second and third place respectively, consequently getting relegated to Round
2.
De Souza had looked extremely promising during the early stages of the ASP World Tour and even sat at top on the ASP World Title Rankings for a few weeks. However, he started to lose his rhythm as the season progressed and began making early exists from
the competitions. The New York stop of the elite tour saw him show signs of returning form and he exhibited these signs even more clearly at Lower Trestles on Sunday.
As the ninth heat kicked off, De Souza got off to a great start, locking a wave to pull off a combination of forehand manoeuvres, earning 8.10 points for the effort. He collected a 7.07-point wave a few minutes later to take his heat-total to 15.17 points.
The score carried him off to victory and secured his place in the third round.
Talking to a reporter during the post-heat interview, De Souza said, “I’m happy, it’s kind of high tide, but I’m really happy with my performance. Round 1 isn’t important and I’m really happy to surf with Gabriel [Medina]. He’s amazing in conditions like
this. I just enjoyed myself and hopefully I can keep going in Round 3. We just had fun out there. Round 1 is no-losers and we’ve just started the journey. We just had a good battle out there and I hope Gabriel does well, he’s a Brazilian and we all pull for
each other.”
Medina did not allow his countryman to relax throughout the entirety of the contest. Earning 7.60 points off his first wave and 7.27 points off his second, he finished with a heat-total of 14.87 points, falling 0.30 points short of his rival’s two-wave total.
The 22-yearold Payne only managed to earn 8.77 points in total from his top two waves. The disappointing effort resulted in his third-place finish.
Medina and Payne may have tasted defeat at the hands of De Souza in Round 1, but they still have an opportunity to extend their life in the event by collecting a successful result in the second round of Hurley Pro.
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