Tiago Pires back in run for Volcom Fiji Pro Title contention following Round 2 success
Portugal’s Tiago Pires collected a comprehensive victory over America’s Kolohe Andino in the ninth heat of Volcom Fiji Pro’s Round 2 that went down at the primary event site of Cloudbreak in Tavarua, Fiji, on Monday, June 4.
Pires advanced through into the third round, while Andino found himself eliminated from the fourth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour.
“I thought it was going to be a fun heat between Kolohe [Andino] and I but we had the restart and no sets came and then that wind came and changed the look of the wave,” Pires said. “I feel bad for Kolohe. No one likes to lose in these types of conditions.
I’m happy to make the heat though. I had a tough loss to Owen [Wright] yesterday and I’m happy to keep going in this amazing event.”
With four-to-six foot waves breaking at the main event venue on day two, the stage was set for a series of enthralling battles between the world’s best surfers. After the Round 1 loss, the surfers were expected to put in an even greater effort during their
battle for survival, determined to keep themselves alive in the contention for the event title. The crowd expected nothing but the most intense action throughout the day.
The ninth heat of Round 2 pitted Pires against Andino in a man-on-man battle for the Round 3 spot. Both the surfers had failed to make much of an impact during their respective Round 1 rounds, which consequently pushed them against the edge, putting them
in a do-or-die situation.
As the battle got underway, both the surfers did not get off to a very confident start, apparently struggling to find their rhythm and exhibiting the same rustiness that was seen on day 1.
The heat was restarted after a while due to the inconsistent swell, but that hardly affected the pace of the heat. Andino got hold of his first business-wave halfway through the heat to post a 3.50 on the score-board and went on to back it up with a 2.43-point
ride, getting to a resultant heat-total of 5.93 points.
Pires, an ASP World Championship Tour veteran, did not look threatening during the early stages of the heat, but began to show a bit of urgency in the final minutes of the heat to collect a 5.00 and 6.00 off his best-two waves. The combined wave-total of
11.00 points served to seal the fate of the battle in favour of the 32-year-old Portuguese surfer, consequently carrying him through into Round 3 of Volcom Fiji Pro.
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