Burrow, Durbidge, Flores and De Souza reach 2011 Billabong Rio Pro semi-finals
The surfing action continued at the beach-break of Barra Da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the Billabong Rio Pro quarter-finals taking place on Friday, May 20. After the four heats concluded, Australia’s Taj Burrow and Bede Durbidge, France’s Jeremy
Flores and Brazil’s Adriano de Souza stood victorious with their place confirmed in the semi-final.
While the surfing conditions had turned out to be pretty challenging during the fifth round that took place earlier, the tides were slightly better by the time the quarter-final kicked off. With more suitable conditions prevailing at the primary event site
now, an intense surfing session was expected as the quarter-finalists looked to secure a place in the semi-finals.
The quarter-final kicked off with Burrow facing America’s Bobby Martinez in the first heat. Burrow had shown an excellent form throughout the course of the event and was yet to falter in a heat. The American, on the other hand, had shown an inconsistent
form.
The difference in consistency and forms played a crucial role in deciding the fate of the first heat as Burrow managed to earn a total score of 16.26 against his rivals’ 14.43 to walk away with the win.
In the second heat, Flores faced off against another in-form Australian, Joel Parkinson. The French made a strong impression in the heat, earning 15.60 from his two waves, to eliminate Parkinson, who ended the heat with 12.17 points, from the competition.
The third heat pitted Australia’s Durbidge against his compatriot, Josh Kerr. It turned out to be a pretty one-man show for Durbidge as he earned a two-wave score of 16.03, while his rival responded with a poor performance and ended the heat with a disappointing
6.27.
The final quarter-final heat saw the local favourite, De Souza, take on Australia’s Owen Wright. While two Australians had already walked away with successful results from the quarter-finals, Wright was unable to share their fate and was forced to surrender
victory his Brazilian rival. The 24-year-old De Souza edged past Wright by scoring 14.23 against his competitor’s 14.10 to advance to the semi-final stage.
Burrows may be the strongest contender for the men’s Billabong Rio Pro title now that the likes of Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning are out, but surfers like De Souza, Flores and Durbidge perfectly capable of causing an upset. It will be interesting to see
how the semi-final unfolds and who managed to reach the final and walk away victorious from it.
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