Super Supertubos
Tuesday 18th October 2011 saw the final day of action at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Stop no. 9 of 11 on the ASP Dream Tour. The waves for the final day were 3 -4 foot ad clean.
The action really all happened on day 3 of the contest where we saw clean overhead barrels and the rest of round one all the way through to heat 9 of round 4.
John John getting pitted
Round two didn’t show too many upsets but it did show some very good scores. The young and experienced Hawaiian tube rider John John Florence was the stand out of the whole day with a heat score of 19.53 to knock out the inform Aussie Ace Buchan.
Taj Burrow was also on fine form knocking out Portuguese under 18 champ Francisco Alves by more then 10 points.
ASP tour regular and dubbed the King of Portugal Saca aka Tiago Pires was also knocked out in round two. The Portuguese tiger struggled to find form for the third year and lost to Brazilian high flyer Heitor Alves.
Mr Consistent Bede Durbridge scraped past fellow Aussie Kieren Perrow in the dying minutes of there heat.
Young Brazilian Jadson Andre also went out in this round to a very inform Dusty Payne.
On to round three where the barrels really started to kick in.
Taj started the heat with a routine win against American Brett Simpson.
Julian Wilson showed ever one yet again that he is not some rich kid. He beat very experienced surfer Kia Otton in a very impressive heat. Julian got a heat total of 19.13 to 18.40. There were barrels galore, and the boys were throwing away 7’s and getting deep pits and averaging high 8’s.
Quiksiler Pro France winner Gabriel Medina had a shocking heat against Aussie Chris Davidson. Medina only managed a 5.10 heat total with Damo showing him some experienced surfing and getting a combo of 14.10.
Slater beat Dan Ross by a few points but showed some amazing surfing showing everyone why he is going to get his 11th world title.
Jordy Smith lost out to Freddy P on the last wave of there heat to lose 15.06 to 14.90 in a tightly fought heat that show cased a great deal of experienced surfing and long tubes.
Mick Fanning and Bede Durbridge surfed out the day under the sunset. Aussie Vs Aussie. This was a very god heat for those who could see on the web cam. The sun was glaring of the water and making it very difficult to see what was going on.
Bede won it with a 10 with about 10 minutes to go. There was then a flat spell and Mick just couldn’t find that the magic wave.
The end of round 3 saw John John Florence knock out would no.2 Owen Wright in impressive form with a 17.33 to Owen’s 16.96.
Kelly Slater was the stand out of round 4 with a heat score of 19.30 to put Heitor Alves and Chris Davidson into round 5. Taj wasn’t far behind with a total score of 17.13, fellow Aussie Joel Parkinson also went through with a combo of 18.
So.. Straight into round 5…
The worst heat and lowest scoring heat of the event saw Julian Wilson keep himself busy and scrape past Chris Davidson with a 6.83 to Damo’s 3.50.
The last two heats of round 5 were amazing. The Spartan Michel Bourez beat Freddy P in a powerful, barrel filled heat. Winning with an 18.93 two wave total.
Bede Durbridge took out everyone’s favourite John John Florence on his 19th birthday with a 17.44 to John John’s 17.06.
The quarters saw Taj Burrow keeps his dream of winning an event this year very much a life by defeating young fellow Australian Julian Wilson with a 17.94 to Julian’s 17.50.
Adriano De Souza kept up his impressive event form with by narrowly defeating Michel Bourez.
Kelly also progressed with a win other Brazilian Heitor Alvez. The last heat of quarters saw Bede Durbridge defeat close friend Joel Parkinson to put himself into his first semi of the year.
The Semis then…
Taj was pumped for this heat hoping for some revenge after there heat at New York. Unfortunately for Taj, Kelly pulled out a perfect 10 with a sick deep barrel. Kelly even started playing around and did a switch barrel but the judges weren’t so keen on this. Kelly progressed to his 4th final in a row with a combo of 19.50.
Taj said this after his heat “What do you say after that?” Burrow said. “It was another one of those situations where we were both getting good waves. I broke my board and was paddling out when he dropped in on that left – first left of the heat – and I knew it was a 10 straight away. I’m still a bit blown away. It’s been an amazing event though. Some of the best waves I’ve ever surfed.”
Adriano De Souza went through to his second final of the season with a win in a closely fought heat. De Souza won with a 13.83.
The Final Kelly Vs Adriano. US against Brazil.
Kelly struggled to find his form in the final. Adriano had a sick wave which he came out of claiming it was a 10, looking straight at the judges with his hands above his head but was only scored a high 9.
Adriano kept his cool to defeat reigning champion Kelly with a 15.67 to 14.73.
“Kelly (Slater) has been my hero since I ever heard about surfing,” De Souza said. “He is a living legend and to be competing against him at this level is more than a dream come true. He has pushed me more than any other surfer and I owe him a lot. The waves have been incredible for this event. Thanks to Rip Curl for bringing us here and thanks to all the Portuguese who have supported me throughout the event.”
Today’s win vaults De Souza from 6th to 3rd on the ASP World Title rankings and into contention heading into the last two events of the year.
“I haven’t been as consistent as I would like to be this season but I have had two of the biggest results of my career here and in Brazil,” De Souza said. “It’s very special to win in these kinds of conditions. I just want to finish the year with some good results – I’m not thinking about the World Title.”
The next stop on the 2011 ASP World Title season will be the Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco from November 1 – 12, 2011.
For additional information log on to www.aspworldtour.com
RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.67
2 – Kelly Slater (USA) 14.73
RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.50 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.87
SF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.83 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.03
RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.94 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.50
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.70 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 7.67
QF 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.60 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.53
QF 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.10 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.60
RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING HEAT 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 6.83 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 3.50
Heat 2: Heitor Alves (BRA) 15.40 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.74
Heat 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) 18.93 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 17.96
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.44 def. John John Florence (HAW) 17.06
RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.13, Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.70, Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.10
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.30, Heitor Alves (BRA) 17.20, Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.40
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.30, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.64, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.67
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.00, John John Florence (HAW) 17.84, Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.10
RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 11.60 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 8.10
Heat 10: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.56 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.30
Heat 11: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.27 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.54
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 17.33 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 16.96
ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (after Rip Curl Pro Portugal)
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 58,150 pts
2. Owen Wright (AUS) 45,650 pts
3. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 42,450 pts
4. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 41,100 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 40,950 pts
