Last Four Decided at SATA Azores Pro pres. by Sumol

Caption: Ricardo Christie (NZL) will face Jesse Mendes (BRA) in the semis.
Image: ASP/Poullenot

SATA Airlines Azores Pro
Stop No. 4 of 5 on the 2014 ASP Europe Men Qualifying Series
 

Praia de Santa Bárbara, Sao Miguel / Azores Islands (Friday, September 5, 2014) – A new swell arrived overnight and pulsed waves in the 3-to-5-foot range allowing the ASP Prime SATA Azores Pro pres. by Sumol to resume on Day 4. The final four heats of the Round of 16 were completed before moving into the quarterfinals to decide the last four men standing.

Jesse Mendes (BRA) 21, opened fire first with two average waves to build a scoreboard. While his opponent Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 16, played the patience game waiting for a special wave, the talented Brazilian kept busy, eventually finding a long lefthander offering three turn-sections. With a solid 8.00 point ride under the belt and less than five minutes on the clock, Mendes applied pressure on the young Italian, utilizing his priority advantage to keep him off the good sets, ultimately giving him the win and a spot in semifinal No.1.

“I’m feeling great, that was a hard one,” Mendes said. “I came here already thinking of the win, it’s not easy but I’m doing my best and taking it one heat at a time. There’s definitely nerves cause it’s a big events with more points and more money in the game, but every heat in a Prime is hard so I’ll stick to my gameplan.”

In a slow start of quarterfinal No.2, defending event champion Tomas Hermes (BRA) 27 and in-form Ricardo Christie (NZL) 25, went head-to-head in a couple of exchanges on average waves, only netting insignificant scores. Christie stroke first on a nice righthander with a check turn before throwing a frontside air tweaked with a grab to net a 7.00 point ride and take the lead. Hermes answered on a succession of lefthanders, briefly stealing the heat lead. Only needing a small score though, the Kiwi quickly reacted to seal the deal and move onto the semis.

“I wasn’t really planning to do an air, but there was a lip so I just took a chance,” Christie admitted. “I’m just going to cruise now and try to stay relaxed before tomorrow. I’m not thinking about the points too much, just trying to enjoy myself.”

Quarterfinal No.3 didn’t disappoint with two very different approaches, Italo Ferreira (BRA) 19, who has been winning heats so far with mainly big aerial maneuvers, while Joan Duru (FRA) 25, scored in the excellent range with powerturns in the critical sections of the waves. Ferreira opened his campaign with a fast frontside rotation to net an 8.00, but then adapted to the conditions and started surfing on the open face for another 8.00. France’s Duru stuck to his gameplan, attacking the lips with power and flow, to bank an 8.07 of his own. Duru, chasing a high-7, paddled 100 metres to another peak to sneak a wave under the Brazilian’s priority. Capitalizing on two huge fully-comitted turns on the buzzer, Duru netted a near-perfect 9.50 and took the win.

“It’s crazy, I knew there was a wave out there but I’m really lucky that it came right on time,” Duru stated. “Italo didn’t go and I thought ‘wow this is my chance I canno’t miss it’. I haven’t made any heats all year and now I’m in the semis it feels surreal. I’ve always felt like my surfing was there, but I missed a little luck maybe for things to go my way and I’m stoked it’s turning now.”

A slow first half of the last quarterfinal saw Michael Dunphy (USA) 24, occupy most of the lineup racking up a couple of average scores to take an early lead. Yadin Nicol (AUS)  28, waited patiently to find a nice righthander and perform his powerful and stylish brand of surfing for a 6.67. Quickly backing it up on his backhand with another good score, Nicol took command of the heat leaving Dunphy in need of a high 6 as well. In a last effort, the Australian started on a big lefthander, nailed two vertical hits for an 8.00 point ride and his spot in the semifinals.

“It’s tricky out there, I was mostly looking for the lefts, but there’s a sneaky right and I was kind of in the middle of the two,” Nicol reflected. “My season’s been terrible so far, I’ve been feeling good but my brain wasn’t into it I guess. I had to sit myself down for this event and re-assess what I was doing in heats and it’s kind of working this time so I’m stoked.”s

The next call is set to Saturday at 1pm local time (AZOST) for the final day of competition. Up first when the event recommences will be Jesse Mendes against Ricardo Christie.

The ASP Prime SATA Azores Pro pres. by Sumol is scheduled from September 2-7, 2014 in Sao Miguel, Azores Islands. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases and LIVE webcast, log on to www.aspworldtour.com. 

The SATA Azores Pro pres. by Sumol 14 is organized by DAAZ Events and Atlantic Action Sports Association, with the support of the following event partners: SATA Airlines, Azores Tourism, Ribeira Grande City Hall, Sumol, Seat, MOCHE, Vip Executive Azores Hotel, SPORT.TV, Mega Hits, RTP, Jornal i, Surf Portugal, OnFire, Surf Total, Beachcam and Puro Feeling.

UPCOMING SATA AZORES PRO SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS:

SF 1: Jesse Mendes (BRA) vs. Ricardo Christie (NZL) 

SF 2: Joan Duru (FRA) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 

SATA AZORES PRO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:

QF 1: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 12.97 def. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 10.76

QF 2: Ricardo Christie (NZL) 10.87 def. Tomas Hermes (BRA) 10.77

QF 3: Joan Duru (FRA) 17.57 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 16.00

QF 4: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 14.67 def. Michael Dunphy (USA) 11.00

REMAINING SATA AZORES PRO ROUND 5 RESULTS:

Heat 5: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 14.32 def. Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 12.00

Heat 6: Joan Duru (FRA) 14.44 def. Willian Cardoso (BRA) 7.87

Heat 7: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 10.17 def. Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 8.96

Heat 8: Michael Dunphy (USA) 13.40 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 11.43