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Caption: Santa Barbara pumped 4-6Ft waves on the opening day
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Location: |
PRAIA DE SANTA BARBARA, Sao Miguel, Azores |
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Holding period: |
2 – 7 September 2014 |
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Call: |
Next Call – 7.00 a.m. / Round of 48 |
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Conditions: |
4-6Ft Clean |
Praia de Santa Bárbara, Sao Miguel / Azores Islands (Tuesday, September 2, 2014) – The ASP Prime SATA Airlines Azores Pro pres. by Sumol launched today in excellent 4-to-6-foot hollow waves at the pristine praia de Santa Barbara on Sao Miguel Island. Surfers put on an incredible show mixing deep barrels and high-performance maneuvers to complete the opening round of competition and reduce the field down to 48.
Caio Ibelli (BRA) 20, got the best of the hollow conditions in the morning, clocking the most time in the barrel to post an impressive 9.53 and back it up with another solid score for the win.
“I’ve been here five days already and yesterday the waves got big and I broke all my boards,” Ibelli admitted. “I was kind of bummed, but I went out there and looked for the barrels cause I don’t feel comfortable doing turns on this board. There’s nothing better to get barreled like that early in the morning, I’m stoked to be here in the Azores.”
Sitting in 34th position in the QS rankings, the young Brazilian, former ASP World Junior Champion, is in need of a big result to improve his position and close the gap with the leaders.
“I got a 9th in Ballito and then lost first round in the US Open,” Ibelli said. “So basically I came here to try and get a good rhythm back and back-up my result. I have no pressure I just want to surf and have fun. I’m going to stick around today and try some boards to get used to them.”
Later in the day, Italo Ferreira (BRA) 19, collected the highest single score for one maneuver, a near-perfect 9.67 when he launched into a massive alley-oop landed perfectly into the flats.
“That’s my favourite air, the conditions were perfect for it this afternoon with that little sideshore wind,” Ferreira commented. “It is a little dangerous sure but I’ve been practicing a lot this kind of maneuvers and feel confident I can land them safely.”
Event wildcard and Portugal leading junior Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 19, dominated Heat 10, advancing with a three-point difference ahead of current QS leader Matt Banting (AUS) 20.
“I’m really happy, I think I got a little bit too excited with the waves so I’m stoked that I got a couple,” Ribeiro said. “I’ve been watching the previous heats closely and I knew I could get the scores with turns, but yes when the occasional barrel came across I went for it.”
Despite living just a couple of hours away on mainland Portugal, Ribeiro admitted his lacking experience in Azores, making his performance even more impressive.
“Some heats go your way, others don’t,” he added. “Matt is an amazing surfer, off course I’m happy to beat him this time but I wouldn’t read too much into that, it’s just a heat.”
Willian Cardoso (BRA) 28, recent runner-up at the Vans US Open of Surfing, started his Azorean campaign with a solid heat win. The talented Brazilian executed his gameplan to perfection, concentrating on finding clean long waves to perform his signature power turns.
“I feel great, it’s a good way to start,” Cardoso said. “I saw a couple barrels this morning but I know they’re hard to find and even harder to make, so I looked for turns mainly. That result in California put me in the race again and gave me a lot of confidence so I hope I can keep at it here and do good again.”
Hiroto Ohhara (JPN) 17, proved in his heat that in surfing — it ain’t over til it’s over —. With only minutes on the clock, the young Japanese was still looking for his first decent score when he started late on a fast righthander. Barely hanging on to his board, Ohhara came flying out of the barrel to collect an 8.67 and turn the heat. Now second, he then backed it up right away with a succesion of carving maneuvers to turn the lead and advance in first.
“I just got a wave, got barreled and made it through, I couldn’t be happier !” Ohhara stated. “I almost fell in the barrel but thankfully my board just kept the line and I made it. Before that wave I was starting to get nervous, I wanted to paddle over to another peak and couldn’t find the right ones, so I guess I got lucky. Azores remind me of Niijima a little bit, it’s very similar and I love it here.”
First event of the Portuguese Waves Series – Cascais Trophy, the SATA Airlines Azores Pro will play a vital role in crowning the series champion and awarding the additional $50,000 cheque bonus. The following two events will be the ASP Prime Cascais Billabong Pro, and Moche Rip Curl Pro Peniche WCT.
Event officials and surfers will reconvene Wednesday at 7amto re-assess conditions.
The ASP Prime SATA Airlines Azores Islands Pro 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.
SATA Azores Pro 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 AIRLINES AZORES PRO ROUND 2 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Ezekiel Lau (HAW), Marco Fernandez (BRA), Frederico Morais (PRT)
Heat 2: Jack Freestone (AUS), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Tanner Gudauskas (USA), Mason Ho (HAW)
Heat 3: Jesse Mendes (BRA), Caio Ibelli (BRA), Vincent Duvignac (FRA), Nathan Hedge (AUS)
Heat 4: Tom Whitaker (AUS), Steven Pierson (PYF), Tomas Hermes (BRA), Aritz Aranburu (ESP)
Heat 5: Hiroto Ohhara (JPN), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Granger Larsen (HAW), Ricardo Christie (NZL)
Heat 6: Lucas Silveira (BRA), Santiago Muniz (ARG), Matt Banting (AUS), Glenn Hall (IRL)
Heat 7: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Heat 8: Italo Ferreira (BRA), Willian Cardoso (BRA), Marc Lacomare (FRA), Vicente Romero (ESP)
Heat 9: Joan Duru (FRA), Mitchel Coleborn (AUS), Ian Gouveia (BRA), Nathan Yeomans (USA)
Heat 10: Jose Ferreira (PRT), Beyrick De Vries (ZAF), Cooper Chapman (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 11: Brett Simpson (USA), Yadin Nicol (AUS), Conner Coffin (USA), Hiroto Arai (JPN)
Heat 12: Michael Dunphy (USA), Keanu Asing (HAW), Wigolly Dantas (BRA), Kiron Jabour (HAW)
SATA AIRLINES AZORES PRO ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 11.60, Mason Ho (HAW) 11.34, Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 7.04, Tiago Pires (PRT) 6.43
Heat 2: Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 13.84, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 11.34, Bino Lopes (BRA) 5.94, Jean Da Silva (BRA) 5.60
Heat 3: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 11.16, Marco Fernandez (BRA) 11.03, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 9.50, Billy Stairmand (NZL) 8.17
Heat 4: Jack Freestone (AUS) 13.90, Frederico Morais (PRT) 13.10, Pedro Henrique (BRA) 10.03, David Van Zyl (ZAF) 8.00
Heat 5: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 12.34, Aritz Aranburu (ESP) 11.60, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 10.66, Medi Veminardi (REU) 7.70
Heat 6: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 16.70, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 12.23, Dale Staples (ZAF) 9.96, Connor O’Leary (AUS) 7.10
Heat 7: Steven Pierson (PYF) 14.17, Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 12.07, Carlos Munoz (CRI) 8.33, Charly Martin (GLP) 7.64
Heat 8: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 12.24, Nathan Hedge (AUS) 11.60, Dion Atkinson (AUS) 11.07, Michael Rodriguez (BRA) 6.07
Heat 9: Hiroto Ohhara (JPN) 12.90, Glenn Hall (IRL) 12.77, Jay Thompson (AUS) 12.24, Hodei Collazo (EUK) 9.10
Heat 10: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 16.34, Matt Banting (AUS) 13.47, Brian Toth (PRI) 9.57, Krystian Kymerson (BRA) 5.86
Heat 11: Santiago Muniz (ARG) 11.66, Granger Larsen (HAW) 11.46, Thomas Woods (AUS) 11.03, Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 10.60
Heat 12: Lucas Silveira (BRA) 14.10, Ricardo Christie (NZL) 13.46, Garrett Parkes (AUS) 11.73, Manuel Morgado (PRT) 6.50
Heat 13: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 14.14, Vicente Romero (ESP) 13.27, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.04, Heitor Alves (BRA) 10.83
Heat 14: Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 15.67, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 9.97, Gavin Gillette (HAW) 9.84, Evan Geiselman (USA) 9.13
Heat 15: Willian Cardoso (BRA) 15.53, Wade Carmichael (AUS) 11.93, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 10.60, Nathaniel Curran (USA) 9.16
Heat 16: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 17.44, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.07, Torrey Meister (HAW) 11.10, Dusty Payne (HAW) 9.80
Heat 17: Joan Duru (FRA) 10.60, Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.70, Stu Kennedy (AUS) 7.74, Cahill Bell-Warren (AUS) 5.67
Heat 18: Mitchel Coleborn (AUS) 13.77, Cooper Chapman (AUS) 12.23, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 9.33, Leandro Usuna (ARG) 8.37
Heat 19: Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 11.33, Ian Gouveia (BRA) 9.00, Marlon Lipke (PRT) 8.86, Tim Reyes (USA) 7.86
Heat 20: Jose Ferreira (PRT) 13.16, Nathan Yeomans (USA) 12.27, Dillon Perillo (USA) 8.87, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 8.20
Heat 21: Brett Simpson (USA) 14.34, Kiron Jabour (HAW) 11.30, Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 7.70, Davey Cathels (AUS) 6.33
Heat 22: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 11.50, Wigolly Dantas (BRA) 9.44, Nic Von Rupp (PRT) 8.26, Masatoshi Ohno (JPN) 6.60
Het 23: Keanu Asing (HAW) 13.37, Conner Coffin (USA) 7.46, Cory Arrambide (USA) 7.00, Messias Felix (BRA) 0.73
Heat 24: Michael Dunphy (USA) 10.86, Hiroto Arai (JPN) 10.10, Adam Melling (AUS) 9.83, David Do Carmo (BRA), 9.60
