Adriano de Souza succumbs to Matt Wilkinson in Round 1 of Rip Curl Pro Portugal – 2011 ASP World Tour
The latest stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Rip Curl Pro Portugal, continued to deliver a heavy dose of adrenaline-pumping action at the iconic beach-break of Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, as Brazil’s Adriano de
Souza squared off with Australia’s Matt Wilkinson and Hawaii’s John John Florence in the seventh heat of Round 1 on Sunday, October 16.
Wilkinson took control of the battle early in the heat and maintained the upper hand until the end to emerge triumphant, consequently securing the Round 3 spot. Florence finished as runner-up, while De Souza rounded out the third place. Both the surfers
got relegated to Round 2, where they needed to collect a win in order to remain in contention for the event-title.
De Souza had started off the season in exceptional form and gave even the likes of America’s Kelly Slater and Australia’s Mick Fanning a run for their money. The third stop of the elite tour, Billabong Rio Pro, saw the Brazilian walk away with his first
over-all victory of the season, which also served to move him onto the top slot in the ASP World Title Rankings. However, De Souza began to lose momentum and started making early exits from the competitions due to his lacklustre performances
De Souza had shown glimpses of returning form at the last two stops of the ASP World Tour and was expected to make a somewhat solid impact at the Portugal event. Despite all the expectations and speculations, the Brazilian prodigy failed to deliver and ended
up faltering during his first heat of the competition. Instead, it was Australia’s Wilkinson who completely stole the show through an exhibition of remarkable skills in clean three-to-five foot waves.
As the seventh heat of Round 1 kicked off, Wilkinson wasted no time in asserting his dominance in the battle and locked a wave in the opening minutes to unload a string of exquisite manoeuvres, earning 8.50 points for the effort. Remaining quite selective
as the heat progressed, he eventually caught another wave to add an additional 7.93 points to his account, finishing with a heat-total of 16.43 points. The score proved sufficient to carry him off to victory, thus moving him straight into Round 3.
Florence, who had been incepted into the ASP World Tour following mid-year September rotation, put up a determined fight during the 30-minute heat, but was unable to keep his Australian rival from walking away with victory. Scoring 6.33 points off his first
and 7.17 points off his second business-wave, the Hawaiian finished off with a heat-total of 13.50 points to secure runner-up place. The result pushed him into Round 2.
Contrary to the expectations, De Souza finished in third place after struggling to find his rhythm throughout the entirety of the heat. He eventually finished with a heat-total of 4.87 points, which comprised of a 0.87 and 4.00-point wave. He got relegated
to Round 2 as well after such a disappointing performance.
For more updates on Round 1 of Rip Curl Pro Portugal, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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