Adriano de Souza downs Kelly Slater to capture Rip Curl Pro Portugal title – 2011 ASP World Tour
Holding their own despite getting challenged by a huge field of intimidating and formidable competition over the course of three days, America’s Kelly Slater and Brazil’s Adriano de Souza managed to make it into the Final at the latest stop of the 2011 Association
of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Rip Curl Pro Portugal. The two took each other on in the battle for the event title at the beach-break of Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Tuesday, October 18.
There could not have been a more befitting end to what had turned out to be an epic competition. Slater and De Souza pushed each other to the limit as the battle for the event-title went on. Once the dust settled, it was De Souza who stood beaming with joy
as he had just collected his second over-all victory of the season, leaving Slater to settle for runner-up place.
The 10-time ASP World Champion, Slater, had been in a threatening form throughout the course of the event and had managed to reach the Final without sustaining as much as a scratch. Following one solid performance with another, the 39-year-old Floridian
was looking extremely impressive as he crept closer to cementing his hold on the No.1 position on the ASP World Title Rankings.
Slater only needed to overcome one last obstacle to secure the over-all victory at Rip Curl Portugal; De Souza. The 24-year-old Brazilian force had gotten off to a slow start at the latest elite ASP Tour event, but recovered exceptionally well. Other than
the early hiccup, there had been no apparent kinks in De Souza’s form and he was expected to give Slater a run for his money during the Final.
As the Final got underway, De Souza took Slater by surprise with an early charge, scoring a 9.00 off his first business wave. The early offence by the Brazilian served to push Slater on the back-foot, putting him in need of a solid score to get back in the
battle. After a long hunt, the 39-year-old Florida-based surfer caught a wave to post a 6.83 on the score-board.
As the heat went on, Slater collected an impressive 7.90 off his second business-wave to finish with a heat-total of 14.73 points. He kept the hunt going for a more competitive score, but the search turned out to be in vain.
De Souza found himself well set to go for the win and he successfully seized the opportunity by adding an additional 6.67 to his account, thus finishing with a decisive heat-total of 15.67 points. The win carried the Brazilian from 6th to 3rd
place on the ASP World Title rankings.
Talking to the media after the Final, De Souza said, “Kelly [Slater] has been my hero since I ever heard about surfing. He is a living legend and to be competing against him at this level is more than a dream come true. He has pushed me more than any other
surfer and I owe him a lot. The waves have been incredible for this event. Thanks to Rip Curl for bringing us here and thanks to all the Portuguese who have supported me throughout the event.”
With a runner-up finish, Slater has further cemented his place on top in the ASP World Title rankings and only requires two heat wins in the next event to secure his 11th ASP World Title.
The ASP World Tour would resume somewhere in San Francisco, America, with the Rip Curl Search on November 1.
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