Cory Lopez walks away victorious from the first round of 2011 Billabong Rio Pro
America’s Cory Lopez emerged victorious from the 10th heat of Billabong Rio Pro’s first round that went down at Arpoador in Rio De Janeiro on Tuesday, May 15. He clinched the win by overcoming Australia’s Chris Davidson and French Polynesian Michel Bourez.
Coming to the third stop of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’s World Tour, all three surfers of the 10th heat are yet to make a substantial impact in the season. None of them have even managed to reach the quarter-finals in the previous two events, i.e. the Quiksilver Pro and the Rip Curl Pro.
Lopez got off to a relatively good start as compared to Davidson and Bourez in Rio De Janeiro. Though met by tough challenging conditions, the American managed to make the best of the five foot waves that came his way. Displaying his skill and style on two waves, he ended up with a score of 11.54. Under normal circumstances, this score would have hardly been considered any good, but given the state of waves, managing to earn such a score is indeed commendable. The score was enough to secure his place in the third round of the 2011 Billabong Rio Pro, as his rivals failed to put up a better performance.
Davidson did not look too comfortable on his surfboard during the heat. One could hardly blame him though. Barra Da Tijuca had not exactly turned out to be a surfing paradise for the surfers over the last few days. After a lot of patience, he locked two waves to throw down his tricks, but was only able to earn a score of 10.00.
Bourez apparently struggled to find his rhythm throughout the head. Even though one blamed mother-nature for not showing any kindness to the event, the way the French Polynesian surfed; it just does not feel fair to put the entire blame on the conditions. Bourez hardly came up with anything impressive in his two waves and ended the heat with a total score of 8.57.
The second and third round of the event will continue on Wednesday, with the condition at the primary event site expected to improve according to the forecast.
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