Jordy Smith heads to Round 3 of Billabong Rio Pro after taking out Round 1 nail-biter
South Africa’s Jordy Smith got off to an ideal start at Billabong Rio Pro, the third of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series, after claiming victory in the second heat of Round 1 that kicked-off at the secondary event site of Arpoador in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 9.
The South African sensation got his hands on victory by besting America’s CJ Hobgood and Patrick Gudauskas in a three-man battle. The win served to carry him through directly into the third round, whereas his two American rivals found themselves relegated to Round 2 where they were to surf again for a place in Round 3.
The original venue of Billabong Rio Pro was Barra da Tijuca, but the surfing conditions prevailing at the primary event site were deemed unsatisfactory by the event organisers. Thus, the competition moved to Arpoador for the Round 1 heats, where the surfing heavy-weights found themselves fighting for the Round 3 spot in clean two-to-four foot left-handers.
The second heat of Round 2 featured an intense battle between Smith, Hobgood and Gudauskas, with all three surfers fighting tooth-and-nail to try and get their hands on a direct ticket to the third round.
Smith, current No.5 on the ASP World Title rankings due to his third and fifth place finish at the first two stops of the elite tour respectively, made his form evident through an energetic performance. He conducted a busy hunt for a couple of big scores to take an advantage over his rivals. Locking his first business-wave early in the heat, he unloaded a series of stylish manoeuvres to post a 7.50 on the score-board. After a series of ordinary scores, he added an additional 6.07 points to his account to reach a heat-total of 13.57 points.
Hobgood had no intention of allowing the South African surfer to walk away with an easy win. After a determined search throughout the course of the 30-minute heat, he eventually found a couple of juicy waves in the dying minutes of the battle. Scoring a 5.67 off the first of these waves, he got himself into a position from where he could quite possibly edge past Smith. Despite holding nothing back on his second business-wave, Hobgood added a 7.57 to his account, just 0.33 points short of the required score. As a result, the American surfer was forced to concede victory to Smith.
Gudauskas scored a 5.03 and 6.50 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 11.53 points. Both he and Hobgood headed into the second round to surf again for a Round 3 spot.
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