Adriano de Souza defeats Josh Kerr to move into Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Final – Surfing News
Brazil’s Adriano de Souza prevailed over Australia’s Josh Kerr in the first Semi-final of Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast that went down at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Sunday, March 4, to advance through into the Final.
The 25-year-old De Souza had been exhibiting a deadly form throughout the course of the first event of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, making his way into the Semi-finals without as much as a scratch.
The top surfers from around the world had converged to Snapper Rocks to begin their campaign for the coveted ASP World Title, but De Souza had clearly managed to stand-out with a series of exquisite performances. Even the likes of Australia’s Owen Wright
and America’s Kolohe Andino had become victims to his flawless surfing in the challenging surfing conditions at the primary event site, conditions that had even troubled even the best of surfers.
Pitted against De Souza in a battle for the coveted title-shot was Kerr. The 27-year-old Australian had not gotten off to the best of starts at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, stumbling first in Round 1 followed by another hiccup in Round 4. However, he managed
to bounce back on both the occasions to eventually get into the Quarter-finals to face the 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater. Despite the odds heavily against him, Kerr managed to down and eliminate Slater from the competition to make his way into the
Semi-finals.
As the first Semi-final got underway, Kerr got off to a promising start, locking his first business-wave to score a 6.07 off it. As the heat progressed, De Souza managed to grab the lead by collecting a 6.93 off his first business-wave.
Kerr reclaimed the lead once again by scoring a 7.50 off his second business-wave, moving into a good enough position to take the win.
De Souza began to feel the pressure as the heat-clock ticked away with him still trailing behind his rival on the score-board. He not only required a juicy wave, but also needed to capitalise on the opportunity.
Much to his relief, a promising wave appeared in the final minutes of the heat. He charged towards it and unloaded a string of impressive manoeuvres to post a 7.23 on the score-board, consequently finishing with a heat-total of 14.16 points. The last-minute
effort allowed him to clinch the win and consequently make his way into the Final for the battle it out for the event-title.
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