Owen Wright prevails over Taylor Knox in third round of Billabong Rio Pro
Australia’s Owen Wright emerged victorious from his third round heat against America’s Taylor Knox in Men’s Billabong Rio Pro that went down at the beach-break of Barra Da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday morning, May 19th.
In contrast to the challenging conditions that prevailed at Barra Da Tijuca over the last week, the conditions turned out to be much more promising on Thursday, with three-to-five foot waves breaking at the beach. While six consecutive lay days had forced
the event organisers to move the competition to Arpoador beach for the first and second round, the ever-increasing tides at Barra Da Tijuca convinced them to return back to the original site for the third and fourth round.
Both Wright and Knox had earned successful results on the opening day of the competition at Arpoador even though the conditions could not be considered even close to suitable for surfing. While they adjusted to the challenging conditions at Arpoador, it
was still difficult to say how they would perform when pitted against each other. Both seemed to be in good form, as had been evidenced by their wonderful performance during the first round.
As the two surfers kicked off their heat, they both struggled to get a good wave. This came as a real surprise as a lot better was expected of them.
The Australian surfer eventually finished his heat with a final score of 11.66. Knox, who had looked completely out of rhythm during the heat, managed to earn a disappointing 9.80, surrendering victory to his rival.
The win in the third round secured Wright’s place in the fourth round. However, ending up with 11.66 in conditions that could not be termed as difficult was surely alarming for him and his fans. Beating Knox was no small feat and the effort was indeed commendable,
but the Australian really needs to find consistency and hang on to his form now that he is approaching the crucial stages of the event.
The competition is bound to be tougher and Wright's competitors will definitely put up a more determined fight to reap victory from the third stop of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’s World Tour.
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