The Billabong Rio Pro official press launch held at Barra Da Tajuca
The latest edition of the Billabong Rio Pro was scheduled to get underway on Wednesday, May 11th, at Barra Da Tajuca in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, but was delayed due to imperfect conditions. A day before the event’s original starting date, an official
press conference was held for the Billabong Rio Pro Men’s and Women’s ASP World Tour events.
The press conference was held at the same site where the contest is going to be held, i.e. Barra da Tajuca. A lot of surfing superstars were present at the site to talk to the media about the third stop of the ASP World Tour.
The 10-time reigning ASP Men’s World Champion and unarguably one of the greatest surfers in the history of the sport, America’s Kelly Slater was also in attendance at Rio. Talking to the reporters, the 39-year-old Floridian said that he has a lot of good
memories from participating in Rio De Janeiro.
Last year, Brazil’s Peterson Rosa had won and if it wasn’t for him, Slater would not have been able to win the World title. He recalled having a great time in Rio when he had travelled to the location for surfing contests in the 90s. He has made a lot of
friends in the area over the years, though he is returning back after a long time. The ASP World No.1 surfer hopes to perform well this year and walk with another good memory.
Australia’s Joel Parkinson, who is currently No.2 in the men’s ASP World Title race, also spoke to the media about his current form and the expectations in Rio. He said, “I think my form has always been there, but I was missing confidence. Being back in
the winner’s circle has brought that back and I feel like I’m surfing good again. Making the right decisions in heats is the key and it feels good to be back into it.”
The winner of last year’s Santa Catarina, Jadson Andre from Brazil, told the reporters that his victory last year was a pinnacle moment of his life. It was just his third World Tour event and managing to clinch a victory was definitely a real accomplishment.
The 21-year-old intends to make a strong impact in the Billabong Rio Pro and try to overcome his intimidating competition to walk away with the win.
The Brazilian, Adriano de Souza is definitely one surfer that the rest of the filed ought to look out for. The 24-year-old created a huge upset at Rip Pro Curl by eliminating Slater from the title race in the quarterfinal. Soaring with confidence due to
his excellent performance in the previous stop of ASP World Tour, de Souza will be determined to live up to the expectations.
Speaking at the press conference, de Souza said, “I’m coming off of a good result and having the support of the crowd is definitely going to help me get on a roll, hopefully the waves come my way and one of the five Brazilians will be the winner of this
event.”
The 2011 Billabong Rio Pro has been put on hold due to inadequate waves. The event organisers will make the next call after assessing the conditions at 7:00 am on Thursday May, 12.
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