Taylor Knox and Adriano de Souza move to Round 3 at Billabong Pro Tahiti
America’s Taylor Knox and Brazil’s Adriano de Souza got off to an ideal start at Billabong Pro Tahiti, the fifth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, claiming top honours in their respective Round 1
heats that went down at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Thursday, August 16.
Australia’s Mick Fanning finished behind Knox in second place during the third heat, while America’s Brett Simpson had to settle for third position. The failure to clinch victory led to the relegation of both the surfers into the second round.
The fourth heat saw Brazil’s Willian Cardoso to settle for a second-place finish, while Australia’s Bede Durbidge finished in third place. This consequently sent them into the relegation round to surf again for a place in the third round.
The opening day of the latest elite tour event had plenty of action in store for the huge crowd in attendance as the renowned surfers from around the globe got set to compete for top honours in shifty three-to-five foot waves.
The third heat featured one of the biggest upsets of the day as Knox managed to get the better of former ASP World Champion Fanning, as well as his Simpson in the three-man battle for the Round 3 spot.
The 41-year-old Knox scored a 4.83 off his first business-wave and immediately backed it up with a 7.00-point ride to finish with a heat-total of 11.83 points.
“It has been a tough year,” Knox said. “I don’t know what you do about it. You just go out and try your best. I’ve been working really hard on my equipment the last few months and it definitely feels different than it did in the beginning of the season.
The level of talent on this tour is incredible, but it’s always fun being here and being a part of it. I feel like I’m in a better place mentally and my approach is going to be much better from here out.”
Fanning collected a couple of scores in the four-point range to finish with a heat-total of 8.87-point ride, while Simpson registered a heat-total of 5.50-point ride.
The fourth heat saw De Souza put on the day’s most outstanding performance, making his solid form apparent. The Brazilian sensation threaded a couple of impressive barrels to post a 9.83 and 9.60 on the score-board, thus finishing with a resultant heat-total
of 19.43 points.
Cardoso finished in runner-up place with a heat-total of 10.60 points, while Durbidge had to settle for a bottom-place finish after registering a heat-total of 9.13 points.
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