17 Year-old wildcard, Tatiana Weston-Webb, taught 2013 Rookie of the Year, Bianca Buitendag, an important lesson in competitive surfing in Round 2 of the Rio Womens Pro today. Bianca was adjudged to have interfered with Tatiana’s second ride as the pair did battle in the shifty peaks of Barra Da Tijuca.
The defining moment in the heat.
With the Hawaiian in priority a left and right peak approached the two competitors. The wildcard appeared focussed on the right, while Bianca aimed for the left. After a brief look back to see if Tatiana was indeed going right, Bianca took the left and carved a good turn before cutting back almost into Tatiana, who was suddenly riding left too. In many sports they call it a ‘dummy’ – Bianca didn’t see the Hawaiian change direction after showing commitment to the right. Lesson learned = never turn your back on your opponent.
Here is a replay of the interference:
Lying 5th in the Dream Tour rankings coming into the Brazil event, an early round loss at the Rio Womens Pro will be a disappointment for the Vic Bay local – especially after claiming equal third at the same venue last year.
The lessons being dealt out by the wildcards actually started earlier, when Silvana Lima beat one of the event favourites, Steph Gilmore, in the heat prior. Silvana has always been known for her aerial antics, and she showed the 5-time world champ exactly how to win a heat in Brazil with a big air to grab the match-up’s highest wave score – 9.10.
Silvana Lima was blowing-up on the rampy sections.
Lakey Peterson, Carissa Moore, Tyler Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons have all already qualified for the quarter finals, while their opponents are still to be decided from the winners in Round 4.
Check out all the results, more photos and heat reviews on www.aspworldtour.com
brazil shmazil….bring on Fiji….go tear the bag outta restraunts….
Flippen Russian wahine smuggler…..Rio -what hideous little waves -one hit rotator style.ZZZZZZ
Pothief agreed -Bring on the proper Fiji waves for Bianca .She is not scared of the power….smash it girl.
Tatiana is going to get nowhere with dick move tactics like that. Doubt she would have made the section wether Bianca was there or not. Well thats competition I guess.
OK…,look..fair is fair.. …if Bianca didnt paddle at all and pushed the lip over for Tats… that left woulda been a keeper for Tats…and thats how they judged it.
That’s not pro surfing! How can Tatiana be proud of winning a heat like that? It’s not tactics neither – it’s just purely deceitful and not in the spirit of good sportsmanship! Come on, let the surfing do the talking.