Billabong Rio Pro
\nEvent No. 3 of 10 on 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT)
\nColgate Plax Girls Rio Pro
\nEvent No. 5 of 7 on 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT)
\nBarra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
\nMay 8 – 19, 2013<\/p>\n
Jordy Smith Wins Billabong Rio Pro, Adriano de Souza Takes ASP WCT Rankings Lead<\/p>\n
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Pictured: Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, wins the 2013 Billabong Rio Pro over Adiano de Souza (BRA), 26.<\/p>\n
Credit: ASP\/Kirstin<\/p>\n
BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro\/Brazil (Sunday, May 19, 2013) -Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, has won the Billabong Rio Pro in a hard-fought final over national favorite Adriano de Souza (BRA), 26, by a score of 17.80 to 16.34 in clean two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at Barra Da Tijuca.<\/p>\n
Stop No. 3 of 10 on the ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the Billabong Rio Pro utilized the entirety of the event waiting period, culminating in a high-performance showdown from the ASP Top 34 amidst a bevy of barrels and ramps of Barra Da Tijuca.<\/p>\n
Smith showed an incredible variety of technical airs and turns in the Final against De Souza, launching a massive straight frontside air for a 9.33 and a stailfish air-reverse for an 8.50 to top De Souza for the win. The Billabong Rio Pro victory marks the third career ASP WCT event win for Smith and his first away from South African soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis win feels unbelievable,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s another dream come true. I knew I could win a World Tour event, but I had to prove to myself that I could do it away from South Africa. Thanks to crowd and Adriano (de Souza). He\u2019s been ripping the whole event. Thanks to all of my friends and family for all of the amazing support.\u201dSmith\u2019s run to the final was nothing short of amazing as the South African powerhouse defeated dangerous rookie Filipe Toledo (BRA), 18, and two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS), 31, en route to the Final. Smith attributed today\u2019s success to his ability to adapt to both his competitors and the ever-changing conditions of Barra Da Tijuca.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was going to be tough,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI was really nervous in the first heat against Filipe (Toledo). Luckily I got through that one and when I came up against Mick I waited for better waves. When the swell dropped against Adriano and he took to the sky, I knew I was going to have to do the same, but luckily I got a couple of scores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith now sits at No. 2 on the ASP WCT Rankings.<\/p>\n
De Souza, 2011 Billabong Rio Pro winner, went on a rampage to advance to his second career Billabong Rio Pro Final, eliminating 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 41, and goofy-footer Gabriel Medina (BRA), 19, but was unable to top Smith\u2019s devastating form in the Final.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did my best out there and thanks to the crowd for being behind me 100 percent,\u201d De Souza said. \u201cCongrats to Jordy (Smith). He beat me in the final from start to finish. I\u2019m so happy to be here representing Brazil. Jordy was the best out there today and congrats to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Souza\u2019s win at Bells Beach combined with his Runner-Up effort today at the Billabong Rio Pro vaults the hard-working Brazilian to the No.1 position over then rankings leader Kelly Slater, highlighting his chances to be the first-ever Brazilian ASP World Champion.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Medina (BRA), 19, was incredible on the final day of competition, earning a perfect 10-point ride for a lengthy barrel-to-air combination in the Quarterfinals. The high-flying Brazilian was equally dangerous in his Semifinals bout against fellow countryman Adriano de Souza with a stout 17.50 out of 20 heat total, but fell just short of a final appearance despite a valiant last-second effort, finishing equal 3rd.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to get that close to the final and lose, but it was a good event for me,\u201d Medina said. \u201cMy ankle injury has finally healed so that\u2019s good progress for my season and congratulations to Adriano on the heat win. Hopefully I can do better in Fiji.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mick Fanning (AUS), 31, matched his Billabong Rio Pro result from 2012 with a Semifinals finish. Fanning looked deadly in his Quarterfinals victory over ASP WCT rookie Sebastian Zietz (HAW), 24, but was unable to find a rhythm against Jordy Smith in their Semifinals clash.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have been good to go one better, but the semis is good,\u201d Fanning said. \u201cThis whole week was so tricky and it was one where you had your heart in your mouth whole time. I think I went out there and over-thought it. I got way too excited watching Jordy, Filipe, Adriano and Medina and tried airs and embarrassed myself. The waves I had at the start didn\u2019t really allow turns so I thought I\u2019d go for airs and find waves that allowed turns at the end and it didn\u2019t work out. Congrats to Jordy. He\u2019s been surfing great this whole event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fanning, current No. 3 on the ASP WCT Rankings following his Semifinals finish, has been incredibly consistent throughout the opening events of 2013, is now hoping to carry the momentum from Brazil to the next event in Fiji.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw upsets go down early and you come to this event and can\u2019t expect anything,\u201d Fanning said. \u201cLast year we watched Gabe (Medina) go down in the first heat, so a Semifinals result here is good and I have three out of three keepers for the season. I\u2019ve had a couple of good weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly Slater (USA), 41, 11-time ASP World Champion and current ASP WCT No. 4, was near-flawless in yesterday\u2019s action but was out of rhythm in the opening Quarterfinal of the morning against De Souza.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought there were a lot more waves than there ended up being and didn\u2019t make the adjustment during the heat,\u201d Slater said. \u201cAdriano (de Souza) did and that made all the difference. Quarterfinals is not the worst resul \u2013 it\u2019s better than I went last year. It was a long wait this window and if I had waited that whole time and lost yesterday, I would have been bummed. I\u2019ll take a 5th and look ahead to Fiji.\u201d<\/p>\n
Highlights from the Billabong Rio Pro will be available via http:\/\/wctbrasil.com\/rio13<\/p>\n
The next stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) will be the Volcom Fiji Pro from June 2 \u2013 14, 2013.<\/p>\n
For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com <\/p>\n
UPCOMING BILLABONG RIO PRO FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.80
\n2 \u2013 Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.34<\/p>\n
UPCOMING BILLABONG RIO PRO SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.64 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.50
\nSF 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.83 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 8.26<\/p>\n
UPCOMING BILLABONG RIO PRO QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:
\nQF 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.33 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 12.30
\nQF 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.43 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.93
\nQF 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.50 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.37
\nQF 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.76 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 14.07<\/p>\n
ASP WCT TOP 5 SURFERS (Following Billabong Rio Pro);
\n1. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 18,500 pts
\n2. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18,250 pts
\n3. Mick Fanning (AUS) 18,200 pts
\n4. Kelly Slater (USA) 16,950 pts
\n5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 15,700 pts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billabong Rio Pro Event No. 3 of 10 on 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) Colgate Plax Girls Rio Pro Event No. 5 of 7 on 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT) Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May 8 – 19, 2013 Jordy Smith Wins Billabong Rio Pro, Adriano de Souza Takes … Continue reading “Jordy Smith Wins Billabong Rio Pro, Adriano de Souza Takes ASP WCT Rankings Lead”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-14017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asp-surfing-news","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}