Surfing: Christie hooks big fish

Ricardo Christie seems to have found his place on the World Surf league after eliminating Brazil's world No1 Adriano de Souza at the Rio Pro. Photo: WSL/DANIEL SMORIGO

Kiwi surfer Ricardo Christie continues to acclimatise himself to the World Surf league, recording a career-best result at the Rio Pro in Brazil yesterday.

The tour rookie advanced to the Rio quarter-finals after eliminating Brazil's world No1 Adriano de Souza before defeating Australian Matt Banting.

Having initially struggled with the high standards on the world championship circuit, this weekend marked the second straight event at which Christie had beaten a top-ranked competitor.

He ousted Brazilian Filipe Toledo at the previous contest at Margaret River, Australia.

Christie seems to have put aside his nerves and found his place on the tour, learning how to concentrate on his own form rather than worry about his opponent.

"Every event, I feel stronger and stronger and more comfortable," Christie told website Surf2Surf. "I'm making some friends and learning so much from the top guys. It's a really cool experience and great to get some momentum."

That increasing confidence was clear in yesterday's third-round clash with de Souza, who went into the fourth stop on the series with a win, a second and a third to sit on top of the standings.

Christie had de Souza under pressure from the first minute with a tube ride topped off with a snapping top-turn flourish. He backed up that 8.67 wave with a 7.90 with a big air reverse to improve to a 16.57 total.

De Souza needed an 8.9 wave to beat the Kiwi but could manage only a 13.90 total, much to the chagrin of local fans packing the Barra da Tijuca beach, who booed the result.

Christie said he had concentrated on his game plan to get early waves and was stoked to be turning around his season.

"I've been watching all day to see where the good waves have been breaking," he said. "The rip is so gnarly out there though and can really change things up. I got my good wave exactly where I'd been watching, which was neat."

Finding that good wave saw Christie advance to the fourth round - all-new territory in his rookie campaign - where he was once again up against the fans, surfing a three-man heat featuring two more Brazilians, Jadson Andre and Italo Ferreira. Christie posted 10.10 to place third, with Andre (12.63) winning and Ferreira (11.93) second, putting him into a repechage against Banting, who had seen off 11-times world champion Kelly Slater.

It was a nail-biting encounter for Christie, compiling two solid scores, 6.83 and 6.67, for a 13.50 total. Banting had a 5.27 wave, then pulled off a huge aerial move that looked good enough to take him past his fellow rookie, but the judges did not see it that way and he was given 8.02 for a 13.27 total.

The quarter-final clash early this morning (NZT) saw him pitted against the diminutive Toledo, who had a chance of revenge from his Margaret River loss. Even if Christie lost that match-up, he would have still picked up 5200 points and US$15,000 ($20,072).