Willian Cardoso and Jess Mendes prevail in Saquarema Surf Pro International’s round of 24
The ninth and tenth heat of Saquarema Surf Pro International’s round of 24 wrapped up on Saturday, May 28th, at the beach-break of Itauna in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil’s Willian Cardoso took a convincing win over Hawaii’s Kai Barger in the
first of the two heats, while Jess Mendes, also from Brazil, ousted Tanner Gudauskas from the competition in the 10th heat, though just barely.
Winner of the Saquarema Surf Pro International last year, Cardoso has been surfing with passion and determination over the last few days, looking to defend his title. Even with stormy weather conditions and rising tides, the Brazilian showed no mercy to
his Hawaiian rival, Barger.
Going to work very early in the heat, Cardoso locked a wave to throw down a set of flips and turns to earn 6.33 off it. After staying a little patient for the rest of the heat, he went all out on his final wave of the heat, earning 7.50 points from it to
finish with a heat total of 13.83 points.
Facing a rather intimidating opponent in not the easiest of surfing conditions, Barger got off to a good start as well, scoring 6.33 from his first wave. However, that remained the only high-point in his battle against Cardoso, as he struggled to find another
good wave. He followed his first-wave score with a disappointing second-wave score of 3.50, allowing his rival to comfortably move ahead and deprive him of victory.
“As soon as I saw that wave doubling-up, I knew that I could get a good score,” said Cardoso. “The conditions are really tough. It’s big and there’s a strong current. I took a couple on the head, but Saquarema’s a great spot for throwing big moves. Luckily,
I have a few more hours to rest tomorrow which is crucial since it’s big.”
In the 10th heat, the local surfer, Mendes, faced off against America’s Gudauskas. The conditions were worsening with every passing minute and it made it challenging for both the surfers to catch good waves.
Mendes finally got his first good wave half-way through the heat, scoring 5.50 from it. He earned his second-best score of 4.33 in the later stages of the heat to finish with a heat total of 9.83.
Though the task of beating a score of 9.83 seemed easy, the conditions made it extremely tough for Gudauskas. After earning a 4.91 from his first wave, he had a good chance to clinch the win, needing a 4.91 only. However, the best he could get was 4.27 and
ended up 0.63 short of victory.
Mendes gladly took the win and advanced to the next round of the competition, while Gudauskas finds himself eliminated from the event.
Cardoso and Mendes will compete against their next opponents in the round of 12 for a place in the quarter-finals.
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