Messias Felix claims victory in Round 1 of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime – Surfing News
Brazil’s Messias Felix successfully advanced through into the second round (Round of 48) at the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola after walking away with top honours from the 14th heat of Round 1 (Round of 96) that went down at
the point-break of Itauna Beach in Saquarema, Brazil, on Tuesday, May 22.
Puerto Rica’s Brian Toth made the Round 2 cut as well after securing the runner-up position. Brazil’s Charlie Brown finished third, while Australia’s Dion Atkinson rounded out the fourth positions. The bottom-two finish by the two surfers led to their elimination
from the competition.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the event site on the opening day of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime seemed like an ideal canvas for the top surfers from around the globe to put their exquisite skills on display. The opportunity to get a share of the $US
250,000 prize money and Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) ranking points motivated the surfers to put in an even more determined effort to ensure their survival in the fourth event on the ASP PRIME calendar.
The 14th heat of Round 1 pitted Felix against Toth, Brown and Atkinson in a four-man battle for the Round 2 spot.
Felix made the most of his local knowledge of the waves at Itauna Beach to get in the most appropriate position to catch a couple of juicy waves. Clinching his first business-wave halfway through the heat, the Brazilian surfer posted a 6.33 on the score-board
and immediately backed it up with a 5.00-point ride to get to a heat-total of 11.33 points. The score did not receive any significant challenge from the other surfers in the heat and thus served to seal the fate of the four-man bout in his favour.
Toth struggled to find his rhythm for most part of the heat, but managed to find a 4.50 and 5.03-point ride in the dying minutes, thus finishing with a heat-total of 9.53 points. The score turned out to be enough to put him in runner-up place, thus taking
him through into the next round.
Brown finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.33 points, which included a 2.83 and 5.50-point ride. Atkinson did not do any better either, scoring a 3.00 and 5.13 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 8.13 points. Both the surfers were forced
to make a premature exit from the contention for the event title as a result of their dismissal performance.
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