Silvana Lima triumphs over Pauline Ado and Alana Blanchard in Round 1 of Roxy Pro France 2011
Surfing action at Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour continued with the second heat of Roxy Pro’s Round 1 at the famous Cote des Basques beach in Biarritz, France, on Tuesday morning, July 12.
After an intense contest, the long-time ASP Women’s elite surfer from Brazil, Silvana Lima managed to overcome France’s Pauline Ado and Hawaii’s Alana Blanchard, advancing directly to Round 3. Ado finished in runner-up place, while Blanchard rounded out
the third position. Both surfers headed to Round 2 to compete in a battle for survival.
The triple-threat battle took place in challenging surfing conditions, with low tides and two-to-three foot waves breaking at the primary event site. Despite the prevailing conditions, a thrilling contest was expected with the top female surfers making up
the field of current ASP World Tour event.
As the second heat commenced, ASP rookie and local-crowd’s favourite, Ado locked a wave to earn 4.50 points off it and take the lead. Hawaii’s 21-year-old Blanchard responded with a 5.75-point wave to steal the lead, though her joy was short-lived. Ado picked
up a really good wave that came her way and threw down a combination of amazing tricks to earn 7.50 points for the effort and move to a heat-total of 12.00 points.
The 26-year-old Lima finally decided to make her presence felt in the heat and unleashed a string of quick vertical turns on a wave, earning her first best-wave score of 6.50 points.
Blanchard continued her hunt for another good score to move ahead of Ado, but her search turned out to be in vain. She managed to collect 3.60 points off her second-best wave and move to a heat-total of 9.35 points.
Sitting in third place, Lima locked a wave in the final minutes of the heat to throw another combination of speedy three-on-the-rail top turns, earning 5.65 points for the effort and reaching a heat-total of 12.15 points. The score put her 0.15 points ahead
of Ado on the scoreboard, allowing her to walk away with top honours.
During her post-heat interview, Lima said, “I started really slow and Pauline (Ado) was in great form so I knew I had to give it my all to make that heat. I am feeling great and that board I chose at the last moment worked really well so all is looking good.
My knee hurts a little but it's alright and I am stoked to be in Round 3.”
The victory allowed her to advance directly to the third round, while the second and third place finishers were given an opportunity to redeem themselves and stay alive in the competition by making a solid impact in Round 2.
For more updates on Round 1 of Roxy Pro France 2011, stay tuned to bettor.com
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