De Souza, Medina, Fanning and Smith reach the semi-finals at Billabong Rio Pro – Surfing news
Brazil’s Adriano de Souza, his fellow compatriot Gabriel Medina, Australia’s Mick Fanning and South Africa’s Jordy Smith prevailed in their respective quarter-final heats at the Billabong Rio Pro.
The surfing conditions on offer at the primary event site of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, May 19, 2013, promised an exciting climax to the third of ten stops on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship
tour.
The proceedings on the final day of the competition kicked-off with De Souza taking on the 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater from America in the first quarter-final.
The 41-year-old Slater had been forced to take a longer road to the quarter-finals due to an uncharacteristic performance during his Round 4 heat. However, now that he had managed to get into the crucial stage of the event, he was expected to make offer
a tough challenge to his opponent.
Rather than getting daunted by the fact that he was pitted against arguably the best in the business in a bout for survival, De Souza appeared more confident and energetic than he had looked in days.
The 26-year-old Brazilian surfer took control of the proceedings from the onset of the heat and eventually set himself up for the win by getting to a heat-total of 15.33 points with the help of two high-scoring waves.
Slater struggled to find his rhythm during the course of the heat and was eventually forced to surrender victory to his rival after registering a heat-total of 12.30 points.
The second quarter-final saw another Brazilian make his way through into the semi-finals. Medina had been on a roll since the past few days and by the looks of it, he was far more done yet.
Pitted against Australia’s Adrian Buchan in a one-on-one battle for the semi-final slot, Medina put his exquisite skills and stylish surfing on display to get to a heat-total of 16.43 points. The score remained unbeatable as his Australian rival finished
at a two-wave total of 14.93 points, thus sending the Brazilian into the next stage of the competition.
Fanning, former two-time ASP World Champion, defeated Hawaii’s Sebastian Zietz, though just barely, in the third quarter-final after registering a heat-total of 12.50 points against his rival’s two-wave total of 12.37 points to advance to the semi-finals.
The last-remaining semi-final slot was clinched by Smith as he downed Brazil’s Filipe Toledo during the fourth quarter-final.
The South African sensation stole the show with one of the best performances of the day. Earning a combined score of 17.76 points for his best-two waves, he left little to no chance for his rival to ruin his chances of going through into the semi-finals.
Toledo eventually finished with a heat-total of 14.07 points, thus making a premature exit from the competition.
Tags: