Quiksilver Saquarema Prime -- Day 3 highlights

Competition on Thursday at the 2012 Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola saw Brazilian powerhouse, Willian Cardoso set all scoring records on the waves in the 2-3 foot range (1 meter) on the long lefts at the Itauna Beach pointbreak. Judges scored a 9.7 on a wave Cardoso threw a series of quick, fully-committed top-to-bottom turns and carves along with an additional 8.33 ride to obtain the highest heat wave total of the event with an 18.03 out of a possible 20 points.

Kolohe Andino (USA), continued his outstanding performance at the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime by showing off his skilled repertoire of modern surfing and advanced directly into the Round of 16 by scoring a heat total of 17.33, which included a 9.0 on his best wave.

The eccentric Matt Wilkinson qualified directly into the Round of 16. He is ranked below the first 22 surfers of the ASP World Tour to qualify for the 2013 Dream Tour and hopes to maintain his elite status by staying within the top 10 surfers of the One World Ranking.

Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) was able to stage an upset as he sent one of the event favorites, Gabriel Medina (BRA) into the elimination round. Later in the afternoon, Medina won his heat using his patented frontside air-reverses against Puerto Rican Brian Toth, and will have a rematch against Gonzalez in the Round of 16 of the Quiksilver Saquarema Prime.

The forecast for the 2012 Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola shows a decreasing swell and will be on hold tomorrow (Friday) and will see the Round of 16 on Saturday, followed by the crowning of the champion on Sunday.