Jordy Smith dominates Kolohe Andino during their Round 3 clash at Billabong Rio Pro
South Africa’s Jordy Smith successfully made his way into the fourth round of Billabong Rio Pro, the third of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series, after putting on a phenomenal performance to get the better
of America’s Kolohe Andino in the third heat of Round 3 that resumed at the main event site of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday, May 15.
Smith had done exceptionally well on day 1 of the competition to clinch top honours in his Round 1 heat despite surfing in tricky one-to-two foot waves at the secondary event site of Arpoador. Fortunate enough to stay out of the sea on Monday, which saw
challenging four-to-six foot barrels breaking at the event site, the South African surfer got ready to take on the young Californian sensation Andino in three-to-five foot waves on Tuesday.
Andino had not been in the best of forms, primarily because of the tough surfing conditions at hand. It took a huge deal of experience to master such conditions and if there was one thing that the American surfer lacked, it was the vast experience that his
rival in the third heat of Round 3 possessed.
As the battle for the Round 4 spot got underway, Smith hardly wasted any time in making the gap between the experiences of the two surfers apparent. The South African phenom went through a series of ordinary wave-score before getting in a position to catch
a juicy barrel, which he utilised to unload a string of exquisite tricks. The effort earned him an 8.17, thus putting him in a convincing lead. He continued the momentum and eventually locked another promising wave, this time managing to squeeze an excellent
score of 9.20 off it. The two scores combined to give him a heat-total of 17.37 points.
Andino had already shown evident signs of discomfort at Barra da Tijuca and continued to struggle with the conditions during his clash with his intimidating South African competitor. Managing to score a 2.83 and 3.50 off his best-two waves, the American
surfer finished with a heat-total of 6.33 points. The lacklustre performance deprived him of victory and consequently eliminated him from the competition.
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