Heitor Alves defeats Taylor Knox to join Round 3 line-up at Billabong Rio Pro
Brazil’s Heitor Alves barely made his way into the third round of Billabong Rio Pro, the latest stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series roster, after edging past America’s Taylor Knox in the final minutes of the fourth
heat of Round 2 that went down at Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday, May 14.
While the result of the battle served to extend the life of Alves in the competition, it also marked the end of the road for Knox.
The third of ten stops on the ASP World Tour had resumed on Monday after staying on hold for the last five days due to unfavourable surfing conditions at the primary event site. The event organisers had shifted the contest to the alternate venue of Arpoador
for Round 1 on Wednesday, but the move had not worked out great, compelling the organisers to wait for the arrival of better tide. The wait eventually paid off as the latest day of the competition saw four-to-six foot barrels gracing Barra da Tijuca, promising
a heavy dose of thrilling action and intense battles as the world’s best surfers sought to secure their place in third round.
The fourth heat of Round 2 pitted Alves against Knox in a battle for survival. Both the surfers had not been at their best form during their Round 1 heat at Arpoador and thus currently found themselves in the elimination round. They could not afford to settle
for anything less than victory in their latest heat and thus were expected to put on a powerful performance.
As the battle got underway, it soon became clear to the crowd that they would not be witnessing any big airs and powerful turns during the course of the 30-minute battle. Both the surfers found themselves struggling to adjust to the waves that were on offer,
managing to collect only a handful of ordinary scores.
Alves locked his first business-wave a little past the mid-way stage to post a 2.57 on the score-board to grab the lead. In the dying minutes of the heat, an additional of 3.43 points to his account got him to a decisive heat-total of 6.00 points.
The vast experience and huge array of skills did not help Knox get his hands on a decent score during the fourth round of Round 2. Scoring a 1.57 and 3.90 off his best-two waves, the American surfer finished with a heat-total of 5.47 points, a score that
nearly him to victory before his rival’s last-minute effort.
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