{"id":41636,"date":"2013-05-09T14:16:39","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T21:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=41636"},"modified":"2013-05-09T14:16:39","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T21:16:39","slug":"billabong-rio-pro-blasts-through-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=41636","title":{"rendered":"Billabong Rio Pro Blasts Through Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"slater6345rio13kirstin_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This morning (May 9. 2013), while the ASP pros were paddling out at Barra Da Tijuca, Brazil for round one of the Billabong Rio Pro<\/strong><\/a> we were stuck trying to figure out the time zone changes and didn’t catch much of round one. But it sounds like it was a pretty challenging day, even for Kelly Slater<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a bunch of good waves down the beach and just kept that to myself,\u201d Slater said. \u201cYou can take off on that foam ball out the back on the reef and get one or two turns and you\u2019ve already got as good a score as you can get on some of the ones on the right side of the scaffolding. Most of the waves this morning have been closeouts, but I figured at some point today it\u2019s going to get good. There were some unbelievable barrels down the beach.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All of the favorites, except for Taj Burrow<\/strong>, made it through round one and directly into rouund 3. For full results and the round 2 match-ups, follow the jump.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro\/Brazil (Thursday, May 9, 2013) \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Round 1 of the Billabong Rio Pro was completed today in three-to-five foot (1 \u2013 1.5 metre) waves at the primary site of Barra da Tijuca with the world\u2019s best surfers navigating the at-times challenging barrels on offer and thrilling the crowd on the beach.<\/p>\n

Stop No. 3 of 10 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the Billabong Rio Pro continues this year\u2019s campaign for the world surfing crown and the perennial threats were in form on the opening day of competition.<\/p>\n

Kelly Slater<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(USA), 41, 11-time ASP World Champion and current ASP WCT No. 1, returned to Rio de Janeiro today after a 2012 absence due to a foot injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the years prior, I thought last year was going to be turns and maneuvers and there were a lot of barrels,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI had stitches in my heel last season and could probably have attended if it was just barrels, but I couldn\u2019t really do turns with the stitches in my heel. Lesson learned and I\u2019m here this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The iconic natural-footer was completely dominant in his Round 1 bout this morning, threading a number of impressive forehand barrels to collect a 16.30 out of a possible 20 heat total and advance directly into Round 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a bunch of good waves down the beach and just kept that to myself,\u201d Slater said. \u201cYou can take off on that foam ball out the back on the reef and get one or two turns and you\u2019ve already got as good a score as you can get on some of the ones on the right side of the scaffolding. Most of the waves this morning have been closeouts, but I figured at some point today it\u2019s going to get good. There were some unbelievable barrels down the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joel Parkinson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(AUS), 32, reigning ASP World Champion, opened up the 2013 season with a runner-up finish to Slater on the Gold Coast before an uncharacteristic Equal 13th at Bells Beach. Currently sitting at No. 5 on the ASP WCT rankings, Parkinson is further focusing his efforts on defending the ASP World Title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a little time to reflect on the world title but it\u2019s only a few months break and once this year started it was game on again,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cI enjoyed it for sure. Nothing was going to wipe the smile off of my face. I just cruised it and didn\u2019t surf for about three weeks. Once the bug came back though I was just pumped. It\u2019s one thing to win your first one, it\u2019s an entirely different beast to defend one. The fact that the performance level on tour has never been higher doesn\u2019t make it any easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parkinson was joined by Gold Coast stablemate and current ASP WCT No. 2 Mick Fanning (AUS), 31, in Round 1 victories today.<\/p>\n

Adriano de Souza<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(BRA), 26, winner of the previous event at Bells Beach and current ASP WCT No. 4, continued his 2013 momentum on home soil today, netting a solid Round 1 win over Australians\u00a0Matt Wilkinson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(AUS), 24, and\u00a0Yadin Nicol<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(AUS), 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy to be back in Brazil and have all the support of my friends and family,\u201d De Souza said. \u201cThe waves are challenging out here today but I\u2019m fit and I\u2019m motivated to do well. Winning Bells was a huge confidence for me \u2013 to be the first Brazilian male to win it. I came home and then went to the Mentawais after and have been training very hard for this event. The world title is the goal and hopefully I can bring one home to Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel Medina<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(BRA), 19, complimented De Souza\u2019s win this morning with a Round 1 victory of his own, posting the day\u2019s high heat-total, 18.00 out of a possible 20, for a series of excellent backhand tube rides. Following an injury at the opening event of the season on the Gold Coast and a less-than-successful run at Bells Beach, Medina now appears fit and focused at home in Brazil.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Bells Beach, I came home and worked with lots of doctors and rested for this event,\u201d Medina said. \u201cIt\u2019s home in Brazil for me and I want to do well in front of my family and friends. I\u2019m feeling pretty good \u2013 getting stronger every day. Stoked to get a win in Round 1 and hope I can keep going throughout the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordy Smith<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(ZAF), 25, current ASP WCT No. 7, long-heralded as one of the premiere surfers on the planet, has been in blistering form in 2013 and opened up his Billabong Rio Pro campaign with an impressive 16.94 out of a possible 20 showing today to advance directly into Round 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just started the year off at home,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI wanted to let last year go. I have incredible people around me at the moment from my friends to my girlfriend. I also did a trip and I felt like I\u2019d been behind the speed bump and couldn\u2019t get past my injury. I was still feeling one step behind and then I went on a trip to Mozambique with my best friend and it changed everything for me. It got me over that hump and put a smile on my face again. It got me stoked again and I\u2019m pumped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rounding out today\u2019s action was a stellar showing from the 2013 rookie class with\u00a0Sebastian Zietz<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(HAW), 25,\u00a0Glenn Hall<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(IRL), 31, and\u00a0Nat Young<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(USA), 21, all posting Round 1 wins.<\/p>\n

When competition resumes, up first will be\u00a0Taj Burrow<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(AUS), 34, and Gustavo Fernandes (BRA) in the opening heat Round 2 of the Billabong Rio Pro.<\/p>\n

Highlights from the Billabong Rio Pro and Colgate Plax Girls Rio Pro will be available viahttp:\/\/wctbrasil.com\/rio13<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information, log onto\u00a0www.aspworldtour.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

BILLABONG RIO PRO ROUND 1 RESULTS:
\nHeat 1:\u00a0<\/strong>Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 11.50, Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.27, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 1.40
\nHeat 2:\u00a0<\/strong>Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.07, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 7.56, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 1.83
\nHeat 3:\u00a0<\/strong>Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 15.66, Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) 8.93, Taj Burrow (AUS) 8.67
\nHeat 4:\u00a0<\/strong>Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.20, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 8.27, Jack Freestone (AUS) 7.96
\nHeat 5:\u00a0<\/strong>Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.34, Messias Felix (BRA) 9.83, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 2.47
\nHeat 6:\u00a0<\/strong>Kelly Slater (USA) 16.30, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 4.63, Gustavo Fernandes (BRA) 1.46
\nHeat 7:\u00a0<\/strong>Glenn Hall (IRL) 15.46, Travis Logie (ZAF) 10.00, Julian Wilson (AUS) 1.46
\nHeat 8:\u00a0<\/strong>Gabriel Medina (BRA) 18.00, Dusty Payne (HAW) 7.26, Damien Hobgood (USA) 4.04
\nHeat 9:\u00a0<\/strong>Nat Young (USA) 11.46, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 9.74, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.37
\nHeat 10:\u00a0<\/strong>Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.94, Adam Melling (AUS) 12.44, Kai Otton (AUS) 5.53
\nHeat 11:\u00a0<\/strong>Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.27, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.77, Brett Simpson (USA) 9.27
\nHeat 12:\u00a0<\/strong>Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.43, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 8.56, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 7.43<\/p>\n

BILLABONG RIO PRO ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
\nHeat 1:\u00a0<\/strong>Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Gustavo Fernandes (BRA)
\nHeat 2:\u00a0<\/strong>Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Messias Felix (BRA)
\nHeat 3:\u00a0<\/strong>Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Jack Freestone (AUS)
\nHeat 4:\u00a0<\/strong>Jeremy Flores (BRA) vs. Ricardo dos Santos (BRA)
\nHeat 5:\u00a0<\/strong>Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)
\nHeat 6:\u00a0<\/strong>C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
\nHeat 7:\u00a0<\/strong>Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
\nHeat 8:\u00a0<\/strong>Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
\nHeat 9:\u00a0<\/strong>Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
\nHeat 10:\u00a0<\/strong>Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
\nHeat 11:\u00a0<\/strong>Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
\nHeat 12:\u00a0<\/strong>Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Filipe Toledo (BRA)<\/p>\n

COLGATE PLAX GIRLS RIO PRO ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
\nHeat 1:\u00a0<\/strong>Lakey Peterson (USA), Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Rebecca Woods (AUS)
\nHeat 2:\u00a0<\/strong>Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL), Sage Erickson (USA)
\nHeat 3:\u00a0<\/strong>Carissa Moore (HAW), Silvana Lima (BRA), TBD
\nHeat 4:\u00a0<\/strong>Tyler Wright (AUS), Malia Manuel (HAW), Phillipa Anderson (AUS)
\nHeat 5:\u00a0<\/strong>Courtney Conlogue (USA), Laura Enever (AUS), Alize Arnaud (FRA)
\nHeat 6:\u00a0<\/strong>Coco Ho (HAW), Alana Blanchard (HAW), Pauline Ado (FRA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning (May 9. 2013), while the ASP pros were paddling out at Barra Da Tijuca, Brazil for round one of the Billabong Rio Pro we were stuck trying to figure out the time zone changes and didn’t catch much of round one. But it sounds like it was a pretty challenging day, even for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41636"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41640,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41636\/revisions\/41640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}