“That last exchange Mason got it and well done … I think he surfed better than me,” said a dejected but humble Adriano de Souza after his last minute loss to wildcard Mason Ho. “Now I just want to focus on the next event. For me Bells is done. I definitely made some mistakes out there. Now it’s back to the gym, back to work and I’ll see you at big Margarets.”
In a turn of events that was somewhere way out of left field, event Wildcard Mason Ho ended reigning world champion, Adriano de Souza’s run in the final heat of day three. Neither surfer had a real stranglehold on the heat, but with minutes to go and Adriano holding priority it looked a sure bet the Brazilian would hang on to victory. Then Adriano went the first wave of a set and left the Hawaiian to pick at the buffet.
“I don’t remember that one at all. But I do remember my Dad, Sunny [Garcia] and a couple of people actually saying to me right before I came here say, ‘the number two’, said Mason Ho when asked if he recalled that final wave. “It’s the same at Backdoor and a couple of places, ” he said. The Hawaiian’s riddle was hard to decode but what he meant was that the second wave of the set is often better at Bells.
“Adriano went for one and then I was like, ‘Come on two! Come on two!” said Mase. “Then there was all this whitewater and I was like no more whitewater and then I can’t really remember the rest.” The rest was good. And as he kicked out onto the shore up towards the Winki buttom he threw shakas to screaming groms and posed for pictures with a smile from ear tot ear.
Asked whether he thrived off the energy of fans he went into to overdrive. “I feel like all the surfers do,” said Mase. “I mean when you’re a grommet there’s something about those pro guys and you’re like, ‘Woo!’ [Laughs]. Me, I couldn’t imagine any kids happy to see me because I feel like this guy (Mason points to a starstruck grommet hovering around the media scrum). I see him paddling for a wave deeper than me and I’m all, ‘Ohh’ then I see other guys and they’re like, ‘Watch out grom!’ [Laughs]. I’m a kid too.”
Caught up in the euphoria of icing the world champ Mason revealed that he relishes performing in clutch situations against big names. “The bigger the pressure the more I know how to turn it into nothing,” says Ho. “I grew up with plenty of pressure with my uncle [Derek] and my Dad [Michael] so I’ve always learned little tricks to handle the pressure. I feel like when I come up against guys like that [Adriano] I really have nothing to lose.”
In other results, Italo Ferreira fought back late in the heat to secure a win against Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz. The goofy-footer put it all on the line in his final wave of the heat squaring hard off the bottom and punching through a burly Bells lip.
Nat Young looked like he was out at Steamer Lane comfortably cruising past Australian wildcard, Stu Kennedy when they matched up in round three. The sci-phi phenom failed to find any rhythm in their heat and will now need to regroup ahead of Margaret River.
Matt Wilkinson kept his undefeated record at Bells on track with a dominant performance against American rookie, Kanoa Igarashi. Wilko’s wide stance enabled him to drive hard off the bottom and tag the Bells bowl, stabbing the lip vertically on every exchange. Whatever coach Glenn Hall is drumming into his prized pupil, it’s certainly working.
Read: The Wilko Show Continues
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Round 3 Results:
Heat 1:
Italo Ferreira (BRA) 17.00 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 15.83
Heat 2: Nat Young (USA) 13.50 def. Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 7.67
Heat 3: Julian Wilson 12.44 (AUS) def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 9.67
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.47 def. Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 8.37
Heat 5: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 13.37 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.60
Heat 6: Mason Ho (HAW) 15.10 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.33
Remaining Round 3 Match Ups:
Heat 7:
Mick Fanning (AUS) vs Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 8: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs TBA
Heat 10: Kelly Slater (USA) vs TBA
Heat 11: John John Florence (HAW) vs Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs Davey Cathels (AUS)
