Nathan Yeomans and Leonardo Neves enter Billabong Azores Islands Pro quarter-final – ASP Prime Event
As the third round wrapped up, Billabong Azores Islands Pro moved on to the no-elimination Round of 12 (Round 4), kicking off with the first and second heat at Praia de Sao Miguel, Portugal, on Friday, September 30.
The first heat turned out to be a real nail-biter, though Nathan Yeomans successfully clinched victory in the end to advance directly into the quarter-finals. Brazil’s Miguel Pupo and New Zealand’s Jay Quinn rounded out the second and third place respectively,
consequently getting relegated to Round 5.
Brazil’s Leonardo Neves walked away with top honours in the second heat with apparent ease, securing his place in the next round. Tahiti’s Alain Riou got relegated to Round 5 after finishing in second place, along with Brazil’s Heitor Alves who was unable
to compete after sustaining a knee injury during his Round 4 heat.
The 30-year-old Yeomans had been so impressive during the first three rounds of the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event and kept the momentum going during his Round 4 bout against Pupo and Quinn. Despite the tricky surfing conditions,
the American came up with an impressive performance, collecting 7.53 and 6.37 points off his top-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 13.90 points.
Pupo had no intention of letting Yeomans get away with an easy win and put up a determined fight to keep his rival from relaxing. Scoring 7.57 points off his first wave, the Brazilian got himself in a comfortable position to win. However, things did not
go the way he had wanted them to after he failed to get the necessary score off his second business-wave, losing to Yeomans by 0.10 points after finishing with a heat-total of 13.80 points.
Quinn rounded out the third position after finishing in third place, which included a 5.23 and 6.60-point wave. The performance was not anything close to shabby but was completely over-shadowed by the battle that took place between his two competitors.
The next heat turned out to be a pretty one-sided contest as Riou seemed utterly baffled by the difficult surfing conditions, allowing the 31-year-old Neves an easy opportunity to secure victory despite a rather average performance.
Neves collected 5.00 points off his first business-wave and added another 6.17 points to his account in the dying minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 11.17 points. In response, Riou was only able to get to a heat-total of 7.90 points, which
included a 4.40 and 3.50-point wave, allowing his rival to advance through to the next round.
Alves got relegated to the fifth round as well after missing out on the Round 4 heat due to an injured knee. However, he was hopeful that a day’s rest may help in speeding up the healing of his knee, which would consequently allow him to compete in Round
5.
For more updates on Round 4 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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