Michel Bourez annihilates Jadson Andre in third round of Billabong Rio Pro
The French Polynesian surfer, Michel Bourez, went on rampage to dominate Brazil’s Jadson Andre in the 11th heat of the third round of Men’s Billabong Rio Pro on Thursday morning, May 19th, at the beach-break of Barra Da Tijuca in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 25-year-old Bourez had looked completely out of form on the opening day of the third stop of 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’s World Tour, at Arpoador. He had ended up at the bottom of the pack while facing America’s Cory Lopez and
Chris Davidson. However, his performance in the second round turned out to be much better and it allowed him to beat Brazil’s Simao Romao in order to secure a place in the third round.
In the battle between Andre and Bourez, the Brazilian was clearly the favourite to win. Showing good form on the first day and the additional advantage of possessing local knowledge of the waves, the 21-year-old was expected to walk away from the heat victorious.
Defying all odds that were against him, Bourez went on a complete rampage to leave everyone in a state of shock. He threw down a combination of sensational backhand manoeuvres to earn a 9.70, the second-highest single-wave score of the entire competition.
Not quite done yet, he locked another wave to earn a 9.40, highest total of Billabong Rio Pro, to finish the heat with a near-perfect score of 19.10.
Andre put up an extremely weak fight and only managed a 6.83 after his two waves. The effort came as a huge disappointment for all those who expected him to display the same level of surfing that he has shown on the first day of the event.
Talking to the media about his amazing heat, Bourez said, “I knew I needed to get a good score and needed to get a good start. That’s what happened, I got a 9.70. Just after that I tried and air and broke by board and thought ‘oh no, it’s not going to happen.’
I got another right and got that 9.40 and after that my board was done, I couldn’t surf, so I just took a couple of close outs.”
The French Polynesian will face his next challenge in the fourth round for a place in the quarter-final of the Billabong Rio Pro.
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