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Caption: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) navigates an average size barrel at Guincho
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| Location: | Mobile, Cascais / Portugal |
| Holding period: | 7 – 11 October 2014 |
| Call: | Next Call – 9:00 a.m. (WEST) Thursday at Guincho |
| Conditions: | 5-to-8-foot |
PRAIA DE GUINCHO, Cascais – Portugal (Wednesday, October 8, 2014) – The ASP PrimeCascais Billabong Pro, resumed this morning in a building swell to culminate in double-overhead sets at Guincho and whittle the field down to 24 hopefuls.
A pivotal moment in the 2014 Qualifying Series race, this event will play a major role in the campaigns of some of the World’s Best surfers to either obtain their ticket for the Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour or maintain their position one more season.
Adriano De Souza (BRA) 27, current World No.8 and one of the highest ranked WCT competitors to advance today, displayed his versatility when he dismantled a long right, earning the day’s highest single-wave score of a 9.50 out of 10. The talented Brazilian, paved the way in the first heat of Round 2 for all competitors to step up their game as the event moved into a new phase.
“At this stage right now in the prime, coming to the end of the year, everyone is needing points and really frothing to stay on tour next year,” De Souza said. “I’m surfing relaxed, getting off that pressure from the WCT and this event for me is a good opportunity to surf and have fun. The waves have been giant down here, but every time I go out I’ve gotten lucky to find good waves and hopefully I continue to the end of the event.”
Italo Ferreira (BRA) 19, marched right through the very following heat, inspired by De Souza’s performance, and notched the day’s highest heat total, an impressive 17.53 out of possible 20. A fifth placer in the previous Prime event in Azores, Ferreira currently sitting in 22nd on the QS ranks will look to advance into the latter rounds of the Cascais Billabong Pro for a chance to crack the Top10.
“The waves are really big and it’s hard out there, but my board is amazing and I’m super stoked to make my heat,” Italo Ferreira confirmed.
Adam Melling (AUS) 29, defending Portuguese Waves Series – Cascais Trophy champion, continued his prolific campaign at Guincho, perfectly exploiting the big and critical sections with his signature power carves.
“I had a good run here last year, it started over in the Azores and finished up in Cascais. It all just came together for me, luck went my way, and that seems to be happening out here as well.” Adam Melling reflected. “I’m backing it up here on the QS, which I’m really happy about as it gives you that little roll on to the next event and gives you some confidence.”
Brett Simpson (USA) 29, waited for most of his 30-minute bout to get active in the lineup but eventually caught a big, throaty barrel to collect an 8.10. With only minutes on the clock, the talented Californian managed to find a little corner on his backhand this time, to perform two hacks and notch the day’s buzzer beater over fellow WCT competitor C.J Hobgood (USA).
“I was definitely having a rough go out there, there’s a lot of water moving and I was going back and forth,” Simpson said. “The other guys got some quick scores, so I was behind the ball and with that wave I just tried to pull my inner John John (Florence) out. I gave it a go, and I needed something to change my momentum as I was definitely not having a good one until I was able to get that wave that put me right back in it.”
France’s Marc Lacomare (FRA) 24, produced the day’s upset in eliminating local hero Tiago Pires (PRT) in the second round. The powerful goofy-footer who was on the verge of qualifying in 2013 has had a difficult campaign so far this season and looked revitalized in the heavy conditions at Guincho.
“Its crazy out there, it’s way more powerful than what it looks like from the beach,” Lacomare explained. “It’s all over the place with huge closeouts which makes it hard to paddle back out, and it’s hard to find any open waves. After I got that left I knew it was going to be a score, so I did a little claim. I’m just doing my best and see what happens.”
The WCT field continued to slim down today at Guincho with the losses of Filipe Toledo (BRA), Aritz Aranburu (ESP), Tiago Pires (PRT) and Bede Durbidge (AUS) amongst others.
Event officials have invited everyone to check back tomorrow at 9:00am (local time WEST) at the backup venue of Guincho for a potential third day of action. Up first in the water when the event resumes will be Adriano De Souza (BRA), Jose Ferreira (PRT) and Wigolly Dantas (BRA).
The ASP Prime Cascais Billabong Pro is scheduled from October 7-11, 2014 in Cascais, Portugal. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases and LIVE webcast, log on to aspworldtour.com.
The Cascais Billabong Pro is supported by the Câmara Municipal de Cascais (Cascais City Council), Billabong, Allianz, Turismo de Portugal (Portuguese Waves Series), EDP, Moche, Jogos Santa, Casa, CTT (Portuguese Post Office), Brisa, Hertz, Buondi and Hotel Viva Marinha among others.
UPCOMING CASCAIS BILLABONG PRO ROUND 3 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Adriano De Souza (BRA), Jose Ferreira (PRT), Wigolly Dantas (BRA)
Heat 2: Italo Ferreira (BRA), Marco Fernandez (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 3: Jadson Andre (BRA), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 4: Davey Cathels (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF), C.J Hobgood (USA)
Heat 5: Stu Kennedy (AUS), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Dion Atkinson (AUS)
Heat 6: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Carlos Munoz (CRI), Marc Lacomare (FRA)
Heat 7: Nat Young (USA), Julian Wilson (AUS), Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF), Vincent Duvignac (FRA), Ryan Callinan (AUS)
CASCAIS BILLABONG PRO ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano De Souza (BRA) 17.50, Marco Fernandez (BRA) 14.94, Mitchel Coleborn (AUS) 11.40, Glenn Hall (IRL) 6.06
Heat 2: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 17.53, Jose Ferreira (PRT) 14.67, Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 10.10, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 8.80
Heat 3: Adam Melling (AUS) 14.50, Wigolly Dantas (BRA) 14.30, Billy Stairmand (NZL) 14.13, Connor O’Leary (AUS) 12.90
Heat 4: Jadson Andre (BRA) 16.84, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.56, Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 13.97, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 9.80
Heat 5: Brett Simpson (USA) 13.20, C.J Hobgood (USA) 12.33, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 10.16, Conner Coffin (USA) 6.53
Heat 6: Davey Cathels (AUS) 10.57, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 9.83, Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 7.66, Tim Reyes (USA) 6.40
Heat 7: Stu Kennedy (AUS) 12.56, Carlos Munoz (CRI) 12.50, Aritz Aranburu (ESP) 12.16, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 9.90
Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.84, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.70, Joan Duru (FRA) 11.83, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 9.66
Heat 9: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 15.74, Dion Atkinson (AUS) 14.06, Tiago Pires (PRT) 7.33, Granger Larsen (HAW) 3.83
Heat 10: Nat Young (USA) 13.00, Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 12.40, Heitor Alves (BRA) 9.80, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 8.34
Heat 11: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 15.10, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 11.70, Bino Lopes (BRA) 10.60, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 7.20
Heat 12: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.33, Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.00, Jack Freestone (AUS) 10.40, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 8.36
REMAINING CASCAIS BILLABONG PRO ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 19: Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 10.90, Dion Atkinson (AUS) 9.97, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 9.00, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 7.53
Heat 20: Nat Young (USA) 14.46, Granger Larsen (HAW) 9.30, Brent Dorrington (AUS) 8.90, Michael Dunphy (USA) 3.54
Heat 21: Bino Lopes (BRA) 14.66, Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.30, Charly Martin (GLP) 12.47, Nathan Hedge (AUS) 10.90
Heat 22: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 14.50, Jack Freestone (AUS) 13.67, Thomas Woods (AUS) 11.20, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 7.10
Heat 23: Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 12.07, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 10.47, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 10.33, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 9.37
Heat 24: Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.50, Caio Ibelli (BRA) 12.23, Ricardo Christie (NZL) 8.50, Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 6.24
