Raoni Monteiro defeats Adriano de Souza in Round 2 of Billabong Pro Tahiti – 2011 ASP World Tour
Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro prevailed over his compatriot Adriano de Souza in the eighth heat of Billabong Pro Tahiti’s Round 2 that went down at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Friday, August 26.
Clinching success in the second-round heat allowed Monteiro to advance to the third round, while forcing his rival into an early exit from the event.
For nearly a week, everyone had been eagerly waiting for the huge swell that had been forecast to hit Teahupo’o by Thursday. Not only did the event organisers keep the competition on hold until the arrival of the swell, the surfers themselves were shivering
from anticipation and excitement. Once the swell started filling in on Thursday as expected, expectations went sky high from the next day of competition.
The contest on Friday successfully lived up to the expectations and the eighth heat turned out to be no exception either as the 23-year-old Monteiro took on the extremely talented but somewhat inconsistent De Souza in a exciting battle for survival.
As the heat kicked off, Monteiro took the upper hand instantly by scoring 5.17 points off his first wave. After a long and patient hunt, he came across an outstanding eight-foot barrel. Navigating the mammoth-sized wave, he sent the entire crowd and judges-panel
in awe, earning a perfect 10 for the spectacular stunt to finish with a heat-total of 15.17 points.
Talking about the 10-point wave after the heat, an ecstatic Monteiro said, “That’s amazing. It’s the best feeling ever – it’s like winning a contest. I can’t really describe that wave. I just paddled as hard as I could and when I got in, I saw it hit the
west bowl and I just grabbed my rail and pumped as hard as I could. When I came out and heard it was a Perfect 10, I was so excited. I will remember that wave for the rest of my life.”
De Souza failed to come up with an adequate response to his rival’s performance. Scoring 4.67 points off his first wave and 6.00 points off his second, he finished with a heat-total of 10.67 points. The 4.50-point deficit forced him to surrender victory
to his rival and make an early exit from the competition.
A good result at Billabong Pro Tahiti is extremely crucial for the surfers who are hanging near the danger area on the ASP World Rankings as the September rotation approaches. Surfers currently competing in the ASP World Tour but falling below No.32 on the
World Rankings will be removed from the title campaign. Therefore, the results of the current event and the next elite Tour event will play a huge role in determining the future of these surfers in the title race.
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