2013 Billabong Pro, Rio (part three)

What a long and thrilling day. With two days remaining in the event waiting period, and only two rounds completed, organisers of the Billabong Pro, Rio had no choice but to plough through as much as they could today. Which was fine, because today the waves were pumping.

The quarterfinalists? Three Brazilians: Adriano De Souza, Gabriel Medina and Filipe Toledo, the latter of which was the day’s standout, putting together two separate 18.43 combined totals (yup). His alley oop to air-reverse combo, a perfect 10, ain’t o be missed in the Waves Of The Day clip below. “That was my first perfect 10 on the tour and I’m at a loss for words right now,” Filipe said afterwards. “I can’t even describe how I’m feeling. I’m just so stoked to compete against Jordy and Mick. I competed with them in the same round at Bells and to win this heat in Brazil is amazing. When I saw the sets coming, Jordy had priority and he was paddling for the one behind me. I knew it was going to be good. I went for the first big air and I was so happy that I made it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to do another one.’ I had that other section and I made the second air. I’m so excited right now, I don’t know what to say.” Ain’t that enthusiasm infectious!

Other quarterfinalists include Ace Buchan, Mick Fanning, Jordy Smith, Kelly Slater and Sebastian Zietz. Sea Bass oozes good vibes. “Conditions changed quickly out there,” said the Hawaiian. “I was frothing watching the heat before and thinking I was going to get pitted. I got one barrel, but ended up looking for some ramps. I was just trying to make the Quarters here in Brazil, that was my goal, so I’m happy. Hopefully I can break through to the semis or even a final.”

Kelly revealed that he ain’t had wax between his teos for some time, though he looked anything but rusty. “I hadn’t surfed in a week,” he said. “I thought it was going to be an air game and Pat is deadly with his airs. It was killing me to have such a good heat against Pat because I want to see him make heats. It’s a weird thing when you surf against your friends. I had a feeling once that squall passed that it would calm down and get glassy and that’s exactly what it did. I was looking for those ones like I had in the first heat, those ones the knuckle off of the outside reef. You want to get that first one that’s peaky and doesn’t have too much white water in the way.”

Kelly then lost in round 4, but bounced back to take down Taj Burrow in round 5. “Taj definitely brings the best out in me,” the world number one continued. “I didn’t want to surf, the waves were terrible and the waves ended up getting good out there. Taj just had a couple of heats where he wanted to surf this year and the call didn’t go his way. He was decisive and I didn’t want to surf. They took a poll and the guys wanted to surf, so we went ahead with it. Taj started off with that barrel and I knew I had to do something. Luckily I was able to get that air reverse.”

Expect the event to finish tomorrow because, uh, it has to. Watch it live, here.

BILLABONG RIO PRO ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.10 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 6.50
Heat 2: Nat Young (USA) 13.13 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.17
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.00 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 7.14
Heat 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.40 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 11.77
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.94 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 6.83
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.97 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 10.01
Heat 7: Glenn Hall (IRL) 12.33 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 10.83
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.43 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.17
Heat 9: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 17.47 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.34
Heat 10: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 18.43 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.67
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.17 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 9.00
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.53 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 13.33

BILLABONG RIO PRO ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.90, Taj Burrow (AUS) 9.30, Nat Young (USA) 5.57
Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.77, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 11.41, Kelly Slater (USA) 7.33
Heat 3: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 14.10, Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.84, Glenn Hall (IRL) 6.05
Heat 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 18.43, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.83, Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.20

BILLABONG RIO PRO ROUND 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.10 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.03
Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.20 def. Nat Young (USA) 11.20
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.83 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 2.86
Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.43 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 13.63

UPCOMING BILLABONG RIO PRO QUARTERFINALS MATCH UPS:
QF 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)
QF 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Gabriel Medina (BRA)
QF 3: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Mick Fanning (AUS)
QF 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)