Alessa Quizon downs Lakey Peterson to qualify for Billabong Women’s Rio Pro Quarter-finals
Hawaii’s Alessa Quizon managed to make it through into the Quarter-final of the Billabong Women’s Rio Pro, the fifth of seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour, after claiming top honours in the first heat of
Round 4 that took place at the primary event site of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday, May 12.
Quizon secured her place in the next stage of the competition after getting the better of America’s Lakey Peterson, consequently eliminating the latter from the contention for the event-title.
“We had a restart and then there were no waves until the last 20 minutes or so,” Quizon said. “It was really stressful. I’ve surfed against Lakey [Peterson] in amateur and Pro Junior events and she’s an awesome surfer. I’m just going in to this event as
the underdog. I have no expectations and I’m just trying to gain experience and have a good time.”
The conditions of the waves breaking at the primary event site on Saturday did not turn out to be the best, with tricky one-to-two foot waves on offer. The elite female surfers had to work real hard to get their hands on potential scoring opportunities while
trying to secure their place in the next stage of the competition.
The first heat of Round 4 pitted Quizon against Peterson in a battle for the Quarter-final spot. Both the surfers had gotten off to a promising start, but failed to pass through the third round without a scratch. Finding themselves standing on the edge with
absolutely no room for error, the two ladies could not afford to put on anything but the best performance.
As the battle got underway, Quizon, the event wild-card entry, got off to a slow start, taking her time to adjust to the challenging conditions. Catching wave after wave during her hunt for a decent score, she eventually got hold of a 6.83-point ride to
move into the lead. An additional of a 5.73-point wave served to take her to a heat-total of 12.56 points.
Peterson, an ASP Women’s World Tour rookie, caught plenty of waves during the course of the event, but only managed to score a 4.00 and 6.87 off her best-two waves, thus finishing with a heat-total of 10.87 points. As a result, she was forced to concede
victory and thus the Quarter-final spot to Quizon.
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