Heat 12 of Saquarema Surf Pro International’s round of 96 gets postponed to day two
The 12th heat of Saquarema Surf Pro International’s opening round, the round of 96, was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 25th, at Itauna beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, the setting sun led to low visibility, forcing
the event organisers to postpone the heat to the next competition day.
The fourth Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year, Saquarema Surf Pro International was scheduled to begin somewhere around 7-7:30 am, but the low tides and insufficient waves compelled the organisers to put the first heat on
hold till the conditions got better. To the joy of everyone, the conditions did improve and the event kicked off with the first heat at 12 noon.
Starting after a five-hour delay, it was always going to be difficult to get done with the scheduled 12 heats before the sun set on the opening day.
The surfing fans, especially the local crowd, were looking forward to the 12th, eager to watch the Brazilian Adriano de Souza in action.
The 24-year-old De Souza is currently ranked number one as per the ASP World Tour rankings, above Australia’s Taj Burrow and America’s legendary Kelly Slater. He announced himself as a formidable threat to be reckoned with in the ASP Men’s World Tour by
defeating and eliminating Slater in the quarter-finals of Rip Curl Pro at Pro Bells beach in Victoria, Australia. However, he failed to go all the way to win the event and got eliminated in the semi-finals at the hands of Australia’s Joel Parkinson, who later
went on to win the event.
After coming to Rio de Janeiro for the third stop of ASP Men’s World Tour, Billabong Rio Pro, De Souza went all the way this time, clinching the win to become the leader in the ASP World Tour Title pursuit.
Over the last few weeks, De Souza has proved himself to be one of the most exciting surfers in ASP and expectations are high from him in the current Prime event. He will be facing his compatriots, Junior Faria and Gilmar Silva, along with Spain’s Hodei Collazo
in the first heat of Saquarema Surf Pro International’s second day, i.e. Thursday, May 26th.
Naturally, he is the favourite to win the heat.
Tags: