SAN ANTONIO (August 1, 2010) - The opening round of the U.S. Air Force Invitational was a night of extremes for the top bull riders in the world.
With electricity in the air of the AT&T Center, 15 of the first 24 riders in a 43-man draw gave the San Antonio crowd something to cheer about. In that group was round-winner Paulo Lima, who put 88.5 points on the leader board with a solid effort on Segs the Juice.
“He’s got it nailed down now,” said three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes, speaking on behalf of fellow Brazilian Lima. “When he first got here he didn’t feel that good … he did not adapt right away.”
Lima made his U.S. debut earlier this season at the World Cup in April, but it took four Built Ford Tough Series events for the 24-year-old Brazilian to settle in. His best finish of the season came in Pueblo, Colo., in May, where he finished second behind Renato Nunes.
“Paulo is capable of winning any event,” Moraes said. “I saw that guy riding so many rank bulls down there in Brazil, and I believe now, just like [Saturday night], he’s going to get his confidence up. And I really believe now Paulo is going to show what he’s capable of.”
Lima likely has won enough money to qualify for the World Finals, but will use the points to move up in the world standings. Right behind him are Brendon Clark and Kasey Hayes, with 87.25 points each. Cody Nance and L.J. Jenkins split fourth and fifth to round out the Top 5.
Only three of the last 19 riders of the night made the whistle. Valdiron de Oliveira was the lone Top 10 rider with a qualified score.
Oliveira is eighth in the average with 86.25 points, and sits just 2.25 points behind Lima.
In Tulsa, Okla., two weeks ago, four of the top riders were out of competition. Guilherme Marchi (wrist) and Ryan McConnel (neck) were late scratches because of injuries, Robson Palermo (biceps) was still out from a summer mishap, and Travis Briscoe (neck) doctored out after the first round.
All of the Top 10 were in Saturday night’s draw, and nine of those 10 looked as though they were pressing.
“I think tonight the guys felt a little too much pressure on them,” Moraes said. “Because right now, everybody’s talking about the World Championship. It’s getting closer and guys are starting to put numbers together and might mess up a little bit with their mind game.
“I believe that’s what happened. Everybody’s trying to control the situation instead of getting on his bulls. They are thinking about the standings, and that’s not a good idea.”
Renato Nunes, who more than doubled his lead over Austin Meier with his third event win in Tulsa, came down rather easily, and Meier is now 0-for-4 since the summer break.
Meier, like J.B. Mauney, tends to thrive when he’s riding a lot of bulls, but both sat out the summer for the first time in the professional careers.
Mauney was sidelined with a partially collapsed lung suffered in Wichita, Kan. Meier, who won four of the first 20 events, elected to sit out and come back healthy for the stretch run.
“It could pay dividends in the end, because he stayed home and didn’t take a chance of getting hurt,” said J.W. Hart, who has twice selected the Oklahoma cowboy to represent the U.S. in World Cup events. “But it could cost him, because he could lose a little focus, get a little rusty and you never know.”
The final two rounds get underway Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT.
EVENT CENTER: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event in San Antonio by logging on to the Event Center at www.pbr.com/live. The Event Center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related interviews.
TV GUIDE: The U.S. Air Force Invitational will air live on Versus beginning at 2 p.m. CT.
