Bede Durbidge triumphs over Patrick Gudauskas in third round of Men’s Billabong Rio Pro
Australia’s Bede Durbidge managed to emerge triumphant from his heat against America’s Patrick Gudauskas during the third round of Men’s Billabong Rio Pro that went down on Thursday, May 19th, at Barra Da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The third stop of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’ World Tour had not exactly turned out to be a dream-stop for the surfers. While the beaches of Rio de Janeiro were renowned for their excellent surfing conditions, the past week had turned
out to be a real disappointment with consistent low tides.
The event, which was scheduled to kick off from May 11th, eventually got underway seven days later at Arpoador beach since Barra Da Tijuca was not showing any signs of improvement. However, the primary event site finally offered about four-foot
waves on Thursday which allowed the event organisers to come back for round three.
After failing to put up a good performance in the first round at Arpoador, Durbidge managed to bounce back in the second round by beating Brazil’s Igor Morais to make his way to the third round.
The Australian was pitted against Gudauskas in the ninth heat of the third round on Thursday. The American had looked sluggish in the first round even though he had managed to walk away with victory. However, he ran out of luck in his heat against Durbidge
and even though he performed much better than he performed on the opening day of the Billabong Rio Pro, the effort still turned out to be futile. His final score of 11.50 failed to keep Durbidge, who scored 12.17, from walking away victorious.
Durbidge’s victory over Gudauskas may have gotten him a place in the fourth round, but it was not a very convincing victory. Apparently, the Australian is still struggling to find his rhythm. He will have to up his game a little if he wishes to remain in
contention for victory at Rio de Janeiro. The challenging surfing conditions cannot be used as an excuse for not exhibiting top-level performance, given the experience these ASP surfers have.
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