Congratulations Adriano de Souza - Winner of the Billabong Rio Pro 2011

BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (Friday, May 20, 2011) – The 3rd stop of the ASP World Tour is finished and the brazilian surfer, Adriano de Souza, 24, made history winning the Billabong Rio Pro over australian Taj Burrow, 32. Barra da Tijuca was the stage for the final heat with waves on the 3 to 4 foot range. The victory not only gave him the highest prize of the competition but also made him the first brazilian to take the lead on the ASP WT rankings. He is followed by Joel Parkinson whose is in second place and 1300 points behind the young talented brazilian. Kelly Slater is the 3rd position and 3050 points behind "Mineirinho".

Adriano de Souza had an amazing performance all through the competition and on the final heat he scored 15.63 to defeated Taj Burrow who scored 12.17, making the local crowd go crazy on the beach.

"There are no words to express how I feel right now. Thanks to my manger for pushing me every day, I couldn't have done this without him. Thanks so much to my fans, who have been on the beach supporting me from the beginning to the end and to my sponsors. I'm happy to keep the title in Brazil one more time." said Adriano.

Regarding to the so dreamed brazilian WT Title, Adriano said: "It's still very early days and next event will be J Bay so I'm going to be pushing myself. Kelly (Slater) and all of these guys are such amazing surfers and have been on tour for such a long time, but I'm going to try my best."

Taj Burrow was another stand out during the Billabong Rio Pro and got the highest scores on the last day of competition. During the final heat against Adriano, he got a 7-point ride but could not manage to score a second wave to beat the  local favorite and finished runner-up.

"I didn't even really start that well and it really slowed up in the Final, Adriano had a good tactic in that heat and connected with two pretty good waves. I just couldn't find a wave out there. I'm pretty devastated right now, but eventually I'll be able to smile about it. Two seconds is good, but I didn't want to lose that one, I wasn't planning on losing that one.", Burrow said.

The next stop on the 2011 ASP World Title season is the Billabong Pro in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa on Jul 14 - 24, 2011 offering $425,000.

Billabong Rio Pro Final:

1 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.63
2 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.17

Billabong Rio Pro Semifinals Results:

SF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.27 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.50
SF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 9.00 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 8.40

Billabong Rio Pro Quarterfinals Results:

QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.26 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 14.43
QF 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.60 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.17
QF 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 16.03 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 6.27
QF 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.23 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 14.10

Billabong Rio Pro Round 5 Results:

Heat 1: Bobby Martinez (USA) 14.60 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.63
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.60 def. Dan Ross (AUS) 11.63
Heat 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.43 def. Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.67
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10.73 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 7.90

Top 10 on the ASP WT Series After the Billabong Rio Pro 2011:

1. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 20,500
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 19,200
3. Kelly Slater (USA) 16,950
4.Taj Burrow (AUS) 16,500
5. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14,750
6. Owen Wright (AUS) 12,150
7. Michel Bourez (PYF) 12,000
8. Mick Fanning (AUS) 11,500
9. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11,000
9. Tiago Pires (PRT) 11,000

written by Marcio Ferreira