Gabriel Villaran and Hodei Collazo survive Round 1 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro – ASP Prime Event
Peru’s Gabriel Villaran emerged triumphant in the 10th heat of Billabong Azores Islands Pro’s Round of 96 (Round 1), that was held at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal, on Thursday, September 29.
Top honours paved way for Villaran to advance through to the Round of 48 (Round 2). Accompanying him to the next round was Northern Spain’s Hodei Collazo, who clinched second place to extend his life in the event. America’s Cory Lopez and France’s Vincent
Duvignac finished in third and fourth places respectively, consequently getting removed from the contention for event title.
The 27-year-old Villaran may not have looked in the best of forms during the four-man battle, but he was still able to adjust to the demanding surfing conditions quite nicely as compared to his rivals. The three-to-four foot waves were not easy to ride and
kept surfers from getting big scores through their skills only, making it more of a battle of experience and perseverance.
As the 10th heat kicked-off, Villaran got off to a shaky start but slowly begin to build momentum. Almost halfway through the heat, he caught a real juicy wave to unload a string of impressive tricks, collecting 7.17 points for the effort. Keeping
the momentum going, he immediately followed it up with a 5.27-point wave, climbing to a heat-total of 12.44 points. The score proved too much for his rivals to beat and Villaran ended up clinching a convincing victory.
Collazo seemed troubled by quality of the waves, but the determination to avoid elimination compelled him to make a desperate effort. He continued to catch wave after wave to get his hands on a good score. The persistence paid off eventually as he managed
to squeeze a fairly decent wave for 5.37 points. Adding another 5.60 points to his account, he finished with a heat-total of 10.97 points to secure runner-up place and confirm his spot in the next round.
Lopez finished third after scoring 4.93 points off his first business-wave and 5.57 points off his second, while Duvignac rounded out the bottom position with a heat-total of 9.04 points, which included a 5.67 and 3.37-point wave. The disappointing effort
by the two surfers led to their elimination from the competition.
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