Another lay day called for Billabong Rio Pro on Friday
The Billabong Rio Pro failed to get underway on Friday, May 13, due to low tides and stormy conditions at the event site, Barra Da Tijuca, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
The fifth of the seven stops of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour has attracted 18 top female surfers from all over the globe. With huge prize money and coveted ranking points on offer, the women were expected to display a sensational
performance in Rio.
Unfortunately, the competition was met with quite disappointing and challenging conditions since the very first day. The event was scheduled to start with the proceedings on Wednesday, May 11, but the waves turned out to be inadequate. This eventually forced
the event organizers to delay the initiation of the competition to Thursday.
Mother-nature turned out to be in a relatively more cooperative mood the next day and blessed Barra Da Tijuca with enough waves to let the competition get underway.
The event kicked off with the first round and featured 18 of the top ASP surfers in 6 intense triple-threat battles. While the winner of each heat advanced directly to the third round, the second and third place finishers made their way to the second round,
to battle it out for a place in the third. By the end of the second round, eight more surfers had cemented their place in the next round.
Both the rounds turned out to be exciting regardless of the dying waves. However, the organizers called it a day after finding the tides too low to proceed to the third round.
The organizers reconvened on Friday morning to assess the conditions. The tides had failed to get any better than how they were on Thursday afternoon, compelling the officials to call yet another lay day.
Billabong Rio Pro is the third stop of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’s World Tour as well. However, the men, who were scheduled to compete in their first heat on May 11th as well, are yet to be seen in action due to the low
tides.
“We only have small one-foot storm surf on offer so competition will be off for both the men and women today,” Richie Porta, ASP International Head Judge said. “We’ll return tomorrow morning for a 7 am call.”
The waiting period for men’s competition in Rio is from May 11 through 22, while the women’s waiting period runs from May 12 through 16. The officials will once again reconvene on Saturday to determine if it is possible to get on with the third round of
the women’s and first round of men’s Billabong Rio Pro.
Tags: