Lincoln Taylor and Yadin Nicol advance to Saquarema Pro International’s round of 12
The surfing action continued with the Saquarema Pro International’s round of 24 on Saturday, May 28th, at Itauna beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The very first heat of the round was won by Australia’s Lincoln Taylor, while his compatriot, Yadin
Nicol, won the heat that followed.
While the beach-break of Itauna enjoys a reputation of being one of the best surfing spots in the world, it just hasn’t been doing justice to its reputation over the last week. Initially, the surfers were facing low tides and strong offshore winds. However,
Saturday saw good strong six-foot waves breaking at the beach, though accompanied by a stormy weather that made it tough for the surfers to lock them.
The round of 24 kicked off under such challenging conditions, with the first heat pitting Taylor against the in-form French Polynesian, Michel Bourez. The contest was expected to be a real thrill, as both surfers had given impressive performances over the
last few days. However, the weather had a strong impact on both the surfers, making them work hard to earn a decent score.
Taylor had to settle for a 3.83 off his first wave, which was nothing close to impressive. However, he managed to put in a good wave near the end stages of the heat to earn 6.67 points and finish with a total of 10.50.
Bourez did not do anything better than his Australian rival in the initial stages either, scoring 3.23 off his first wave. He required 7.27 off his second wave to best Taylor’s heat total, but ended up short after managing to earn 5.00 off his second wave.
The weak response by Bourez cost him dearly, eliminating him from the event title pursuit.
The second heat featured Nicol in a battle with Brazil’s Simao Romao. The showdown turned out to be one-sided, with the Australian taking control early in the heat. Nicol locked the very first wave to throw down a set of impressive tricks that earned him
a 6.00. After struggling to find another good wave till the last few seconds, he capped the heat with a 4.33 off his second best wave.
Romao failed to make use of the local knowledge of the waves and was seen struggling through the entire length of the heat. He kicked off the heat with a disappointing 3.10 and later followed it with a 4.33 half-way through. Putting up a 6.00 in response
to his rival’s 10.33 not only forced him to surrender victory, but also eliminated him from the competition.
Taylor and Nicol have qualified for the round of 12, where they will compete for a spot in the quarter-finals.
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