Most of the write-ups for yesterday's QuikPro action will focus on the usual suspects: Mick, Joel, and Taj - who all made the semis as scripted. Remaining paragraphs will be thrown Dane Reynolds way.
The first conest of the year has that first day of school flavor - everyone is anxious to see who grew up over the summer. Again, most pundits will tell us how much Dane and Jordy have matured competitively, despite 9th place finishes.
adriano de souza. Photo: Gio
The real stepping up was done by Adriano de Souza, who surfed with monumental power while taking down Bede Durbidge and moving to the semis.
Dane's surfing is the obvious result of freakish natural talent, and he seemingly emerged onto the playing field fully-formed in terms of ability, with his power greatly benefited by a large frame.
Adriano, on the other hand, has improved each year. The power he's showing in his surfing is a new development, something he's cultivated in spite of his stature instead of because of it.
For those who have trouble following my tone, this is not supposed to be an ironic post. Adriano deserves immense credit for starting the year as a title contender.
i have to agree for once with you perez samuels. adriano has done well in the right point break at goldy even on his rookie year he had a stellar performance.
another honorary mention needs to go out to ace buchan. i thought he looked better than the hobgoods on his backhand flowing with more commitment and power than any goofy foot at quik pro.
Agree with you 150% about Adriano! Now, as for Jihad, luck or talent?
Adriano was surfing with some fire yesterday, it was fun to watch. It would be nice to see him take a win and rattle the Australians a little…
adriano weighs 137 pounds. no way he should have been able to surf like he did. big ups to the little brazzo
I agree about Adriano. Do you think the judges have been favoring the Aussies? It seems so from the web-cast, but could be different in real-life. Watching the Dane/Taj heat I felt like Dane’s 5. ride was much better surfing than Taj’s 7.
Is it me or do comps seem trivial at this point? Who cares? Global meltdown in progress news at 11. Distractions are nice though. Go taj!
Finally…a good surf blog
Correct call on Adriano. I watched the highlights today as wifey had the computer last night and what stood out to me was Adriano’s power and precision. My thought was “dude’s killing it” and I’ve never been a fan of his surfing. I will be though if his game continues.
Shame that Kelly had to lose out in conditions that didn’t warrant a heat being run. Kelly would have went nuts in the current conditions.
Ross, all Kelly had to do was ride a board that made sense. As for the rest of this post, it’s spot on. Dane and Jordy still need to learn a bit, and Taj, Parko and Mick are just where you’d expect. Adriano’s ripping and seems to be living up to his potential. Finals should be insane.
Adriano will be Brazils 1st World Champ. Or at least the 1st serious contendor. He is spot on. I saw him surf the ECSC when he was 15 and he was so crisp and fast then, it’s great to see he’s been progressing so much with each year. I bet he wins a contest this year.
you are becoming soft under pressure, meeehhh
@ Artie - I’m not sure I agree about Kelly’s choice of boards - not yet at least. I don’t think his loss to Julian proves the point. It was the lack of surf that doomed him…reminded me of his loss to Jeremy Flores in at Chopes in ‘06 I think. But I guess we’ll find out at Bells if he decides to continue riding 5 three’s.
parko v. fanning will be hard to top. sick barrels for parko.
ADRIANO KILLIN IT INTO THE FINAL!
great surfing by all but Parko’s claims are starting to grate….certainly seems to influnce the judges.
Props to Adriano and I hate to be a downer, but I think style will continue to be an issue for him before he starts contending for titles.
Parko was on fire. Taj’s been getting too much hype, he’s the Dan Marino of surfing. Incredibly talented but will never win a world title. Funny how the only time Kelly doesn’t win is when there’s pressure on him to do so. He’ll probably finish top 5 this year, pull his usual retirement spiel, then win 10 next year. Or he’ll just go on a tear. Lewis, link up to our site! Love your work.
Since when what you write makes sense? I’m surprised…
That is known that cash makes people independent. But what to do if somebody has no money? The one way is to receive the and just auto loan.