Adriano de Souza prevails in Round 1 of Billabong Rio Pro – Surfing News
Brazil’s Adriano de Souza was successful in advancing through into the third round of Billabong Rio Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series event, after barely getting his hands on victory in the fourth heat of Round 1 that went down at the secondary event venue of Arpoador in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 9.
De Souza got his hands on the win by getting the better of his fellow countryman Willian Cardoso and Australia’s Kai Otton, thus sending the two into the relegation Round 2 to surf again for a place in the third round.
“It feels good to be here at Arpoador,” De Souza said. “I just love this place. I’ve been competing here since I was an amateur and I always love to come back. It’s good to see the WCT here again and it’s got me excited and motivated as well.”
The clean two-to-four foot left-handers gracing the alternative event site of Arpoador convinced the event organisers to shift Round 1 heats of the latest elite tour event to the secondary event venue instead of the main site of Barra di Tijuca, where the surfing conditions were not exactly favourable. The shift was working well for the event, as the surfers found themselves receiving plenty of scoring opportunities during their three-man battles for the Round 3 spot.
De Souza, current World No.2 on the ASP World Title rankings, was pretty determined to retain the Billabong Rio Pro Title and successfully converted this determination into an exquisite performance.
The 25-year-old Santa Catarina-based surfer locked his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 7.50 on the score-board. He soon backed it up with a 7.30-point ride to reach a heat-total of 14.80 points.
Otton did not allow the defending event champion to relax too much as he stayed right at his heels throughout the course of the battle. Scoring a 7.70 and 6.83 off his best-two waves, he finished with a heat-total of 14.53 points. As a result, he finished in a 0.27-point deficit and thus conceded victory to his Brazilian rival.
Replacing the 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater in the draws after the American surfer withdrew due to a heel injury, Cardoso had an excellent opportunity of proving his mettle. However, he failed to make the most of it and finished last in his Round 1 heat after scoring a heat-total of 11.40 points, which included a 5.83 and 5.57-point ride.
Both Otton and Cardoso were forced to take a trip to the second round of the competition to surf another heat for a place in Round 3.
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