Tom Whitaker and Joao Abreu win their heats: First round of Super Surf International – Part 4
Tuesday was heavenly for surfing fans, who wanted to witness some exhilarating surfing contests at Praia da Vila. The first round of Super Surf International delivered a sufficient dose of adrenaline-pumping action to the hungry fans as the talented surfers
from all over the world competed against each other for a place in the second round.
Australia’s Tom Whitaker faced his compatriot, Ben Dunn, as well as the two Brazilian surfers, Jean da Silva and Charlie Brown, in the seventh heat of the day.
Regardless of the difficulty he had to face to catch waves, Whitaker completely dominated the heat with his remarkable performance and unmatchable exhibition of skills. He locked the first wave to throw down a combination of sensational manoeuvres, compelling
the judges to give him an 8.73 for the effort. Not quite finished yet, he immediately caught yet another wave and showcased his skills once again, earning 8.17 points this time, to end up with a total of 16.90 points after his two waves.
There was hardly anyone who doubted the fact that the fate of the heat had been sealed after the wonderful performance. As it turned out, Whitaker did emerge triumphant, qualifying for the next round.
Dunn did not look too shaky either, but the task of beating Whitaker’s performance was too much to ask of him. He got 6.33 points off his first wave and followed it up with a 5.63 wave to end up with a heat-total of 11.96 points. The score confirmed him
as the runner-up and extended his life in the competition.
The local surfer, Da Silva, was unable to put smiles on the local crowd who supported him. He failed to pose a serious threat to Dunn’s position and ended up finishing in third place after scoring 9.90 points. Brown joined his compatriot in the elimination
list, much to the disappointment of the crowd, after scoring 7.20 points after his two waves to land in fourth place.
The eighth heat of round of 96 featured a showdown between Brazi’s Joao Abreu, his compatriot Bernardo Miranda and Heitor Alves and Basque Country’s Hodei Collazo.
The local surfer, Abreu got off to a decent start, earning 6.67 points from the very first wave that he surfed. In the later stages of the heat, he picked up another wave and utilised it to throw off some amazing manoeuvres, earning a fabulous 8.40 off it
to finish the heat with a total score of 15.07.
Miranda however, had no intention of letting Abreu walk away with victory without putting up a determined fight. After getting off to a humble start, scoring 5.67 from his very first wave, he suddenly went out of control on the last wave, throwing down startling
tricks. The excellent wave got a well-deserved 9.10, the highest single-wave score of the day, from the judges. Unfortunately for Miranda, he still had to settle for second position after ending up 0.30 short of Abreu’s score.
Regardless of posting the day’s highest single-wave score, Miranda found the surfing conditions to be really challenging.
“The conditions are really demanding today,” said Miranda. “You catch a really long wave and end up way down the beach because of the current. Then you have to come back running and paddle back outside, so it’s a challenge physically.”
Collazo did not put up a disappointing fight either, but his efforts turned out to be futile and the surfer eventually finished in third place with a two-wave score of 12.43 points. Brazil’s Alves finished at the bottom after getting 9.90 points from his
two waves overall. The end result of the heat signalled the end of the road for both Collazo and Alves.
For more updates on the first day of Super Surf International, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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