Burrow, Kerr, Wilson and Flores through to Round 3 at Billabong Rio Pro – Surfing news
Australia’s Taj Burrow, Josh Kerr, Julian Wilson and France’s Jeremy Flores registered victories in their respective Billabong Rio Pro Round 2 heats.
Recommencing after five consecutive lay days, the third of ten stops on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship delivered a heavy dose of thrilling action to the huge crowd in attendance at the primary event site of Barra da
Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday, May 17, 2013.
The proceedings of the day kicked-off with Burrow, current ASP World Championship Tour No. 3, taking on the Brazilian surfer Gustavo Fernandes in the first heat of Round 2.
The 34-year-old Australian surfer had failed to hold his own in the opening round of the competition, but successfully redeemed himself after managing to get the better of Fernandes during his Round 2 bout, courtesy of a heat-total of 11.34 points against
his rival’s two-wave total of 10.70 points.
“We had fun on the lay days and everyone was on vacation mode, but it’s good to be back,” Burrow said during his post-heat interview. “Even though it’s howling onshore it’s fun to finally have some waves. That little section on the lay back was a fun one
to hit and I was hoping the judges would throw me a good score for the one maneuver. It was pretty difficult in the end. I just never got offered another section like that one. I knew Gustavo (Fernandes) was catching up and I was nervous the whole time.”
Another Brazilian surfer was shown the exit by an Australian surfer. This time, it was Kerr who downed Messias Felix in the second heat of Round 2.
The 29-year-old Australian asserted his dominance over his rival throughout the 30-minute heat. Collecting a 9.77 and an 8.77 off his top-two waves, Kerr finished with a heat-total of 17.94 points, while Felix only managed to register a two-wave total of
5.07 points.
The third heat saw Wilson prevail over his fellow countryperson Jack Freestone to confirm his place in the third round.
Wilson registered a heat-total of 13.56 points, which comprised of a 7.83 and 5.73-point ride, to finish on top of his rival, who only managed to get to a heat-total of 9.60 points.
Brazilian surfers continued to have a disappointing day, with Ricardo dos Santos joining his compatriots on the elimination list after failing to hold his own against Flores in the fourth heat.
Flores scored a 7.00 and 4.50 off his best-two waves to register a two-wave total of 11.50 points. The target was not a big one for Dos Santos to beat, but he failed to see himself through after putting on a rather dismal performance and eventually finishing
with a heat-total of 7.47 points.
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