PRAIA DE SANTA BARBARA, Sao Miguel – Azores Islands (Monday, September 21, 2015) – The QS10,000 SATA Azores Pro returns in its seventh edition to the idyllic setup of Praia de Santa Barbara, on Sao Miguel Island of the Azores, starting Tuesday, September 22.
The fifth of nine QS10,000 events in 2015, the Azorean stop is already a classic European experience for surfers trying to qualify for the Elite Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour or Top32 surfers in the need of the precious ranking points to maintain their status amongst the very best surfers in the world.
Come Tuesday, nine surfers from the Elite will join the opening round of competition, facing hungry newcomers and seasoned QS tour grinders in what promises to be an exciting five days of high-performance surfing and pristine surfing conditions.
Jesse Mendes (BRA) 22, reigning event champion, will be back to Azores to defend his title and will matchup with recent winner of the VANS US Open of Surfing Hiroto Ohhara (JPN), 18, in the second heat when the event commences.
With an encouraging forecast for the opening two days of competition, the SATA Azores Pro could kick off right away at Santa Barbara. This event will also launch the Portuguese Waves Series – Cascais Trophy, an exclusive three-event leg that will then take some of the world’s best surfers to the Allianz Billabong Pro Cascais before concluding at the Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal.
Past winners of the series include Australia’s Adam Melling in 2013 and current World No.22 Jordy Smith (ZAF) last year, and if the prestige wasn’t enough, the extra $25,000 bonus will definitely bring out the best in every surfer that competes in the series.
The SATA Azores Pro is scheduled from September 22-27, 2015 at PRAIA DE SANTA BARBARA, Sao Miguel – Azores Islands. For all results, photos, video highlights and press releases, log on to worldsurfleague.com.
The SATA AZORES Pro is organized by DAAZ Eventos with the support of the following event partners: SATA Airlines, Governo Regional dos Acores, Turismo dos Açores, Câmara Municipal da Ribeira Grande, SUMOL, SEAT , MOCHE, amongst other.
UPCOMING SATA AZORES PRO ROUND OF 96 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Adam Melling (AUS), Brent Dorrington (AUS), Granger Larsen (HAW), Robson Santos (BRA)
Heat 2: Jesse Mendes (BRA), Hiroto Ohhara (JPN), Nic Von Rupp (PRT), Marlon Lipke (PRT)
Heat 3: Caio Ibelli (BRA), Nathan Yeomans (USA), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Luel Felipe (BRA)
Heat 4: Dusty Payne (HAW), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Conner Coffin (USA), Marco Giorgi (URY)
Heat 5: Ricardo Christie (NZL), Willian Cardoso (BRA), Tiago Pires (PRT), Adrien Toyon (FRA)
Heat 6: Davey Cathels (AUS), Tim Reyes (USA), Pedro Henrique (PRT), Hizunome Bettero (BRA)
Heat 7: Charly Martin (GLP), Connor O’Leary (AUS), Mateia Hiquily (PYF), Jose Ferreira (PRT)
Heat 8: Sebastian Zietz (HAW), Dion Atkinson (AUS), David Do Carmo (BRA), Tomas Fernandes (PRT)
Heat 9: Joan Duru (FRA), Beyrick De Vries (ZAF), Deivid Silva (BRA), Vincent Duvignac (FRA)
Heat 10: Alex Ribeiro (BRA), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Lucas Silveira (BRA), Miguel Tudela (PER)
Heat 11: Michael Rodrigues (BRA), Michael Dunphy (USA), Krystian Kymerson (BRA), Thomas Woods (AUS)
Heat 12: Wigolly Dantas (BRA), Marc Lacomare (FRA), Ezekiel Lau (HAW), Taylor Clark (USA)
Heat 13: Jadson Andre (BRA), Tom Whitaker (AUS), Frederico Morais (PRT), Jacome Correia (PRT)
Heat 14: Carlos Munoz (CRI), Billy Stairmand (NZL), Soli Bailey (AUS), Bino Lopes (BRA)
Heat 15: Jack Freestone (AUS), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Mason Ho (HAW), Hiroto Arai (JPN)
Heat 16: Alejo Muniz (BRA), Noe Mar McGonagle (CRI), Ian Gouveia (BRA), Michael February (ZAF)
Heat 17: Kolohe Andino (USA), Garrett Parkes (AUS), Aritz Aranburu (ESP), Dale Staples (ZAF)
Heat 18: Stu Kennedy (AUS), Tanner Gudauskas (USA), Medi Veminardi (REU), Joshua Moniz (HAW)
Heat 19: Ryan Callinan (AUS), Mitchel Coleborn (AUS), Perth Standlick (AUS), Jean Da Silva (BRA)
Heat 20: Keanu Asing (HAW), Tanner Gudauskas (USA), Gony Zubizarreta (ESP), Michael Wright (AUS)
Heat 21: Brett Simpson (USA), Santiago Muniz (ARG), Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Kiron Jabour (HAW)
Heat 22: Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Mitch Crews (AUS), Marco Fernandez (BRA), Steven Pierson (PYF)
Heat 23: Kanoa Igarashi (USA), Tomas Hermes (BRA), Evan Geiselman (USA), Thiago Camarao (BRA)
Heat 24: Miguel Pupo (BRA), Cooper Chapman (AUS), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Timothee Bisso (GLP)
