Pedro Henrique and Patrick Gudauskas qualify for Saquarema Surf Pro International round of 48
Saquarema Surf Pro International is done with the ninth heat of its first round, the round of 96, at the beach-break of Itauna in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 25th.
The heat featured an intense battle between Brazil’s Pedro Henrique, his compatriot Rodrigo Dornelles and America’s Patrick Gudauskas. Spain’s Gony Zubizarreta was also present in the battle field but he remained fairly unthreatening throughout the heat.
As the ninth heat concluded, Henrique stood in first place, while Gudauskas settled for the runner-up position. Both the surfers have successfully secured their place in the next stage of the event, the round of 48. Dornelles and Zubizarreta rounded out
the bottom two positions and find themselves eliminated from the competition.
The opening day of Association of Surfing Professionals’ (ASP) fourth Prime event of the year, Saquarema Surf Pro International was deprived of mother-nature’s blessings and low tides with small waves prevailed at the primary event site, Itauna beach. The
inadequate waves on Wednesday morning forced the event organisers to keep the event on hold. However, the conditions improved a little as the day progressed, allowing the organisers to finally get the contest underway.
With three-to-five foot waves on offer, the 29-year-old Henrique did not have a smooth sailing during the ninth heat. He had a tough time picking up a good wave and even when he chose a relatively decent looking waves, it lacked power, preventing the Brazilian
from going for technical tricks. Making the most of what the tides offered, Henrique threw down his tricks cleanly in the challenging sections of the wave to end up with a score of 14.60 after his two waves. The score remained unbeatable through the course
and he finished in first place.
Gudauskas and Dornellas did not have it going easy either. Both looked a little shaky throughout the heat. However, the 25-year-old American managed to edge past his Brazilian rival, earning 12.20 after his two-waves against Dornelles 11.10, to finish in
second place and join Henrique in the next stage of the competition, round of 48.
Zubizarreta seemed completely lost in the sea, evidently confused on how to handle the waves and perform under the challenging conditions. He eventually finished the heat with a disappointing 9.83.
The event organisers are hoping to see the tides become bigger and better as the competition progresses, as the current conditions is having a negative impact on the level of surfing and depriving the fans of adrenaline-pumping action.
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