PLAYA DE PANTIN, Galicia – Spain (Wednesday, September 12, 2012) – Day 1 of the Cabreiroa Pantin Classic Pro started this morning in clean 2-3Ft waves at the iconic Playa de Pantin. The ASP 3-Star Men’s event opened proceedings today with the Round of 112 and completed 12 heats of the Round of 96 this afternoon.
Fresh off his inaugural Star Tour win in Azores, Messias Felix (BRA), 26, confirmed his excellent form, winning his first heat in Pantin and clinching the highest combined heat total of the day. With added confidence brought back from Sao Miguel, Felix went on to surf an explosive heat and found great scoring opportunities on the long running lefts of Playa de Pantin.
“I just want to keep surfing like I did last week,” Felix started. “My body feels great, I’ve been suffering from a back injury for the last four years and I’m not feeling the pain anymore at the moment, I enjoy surfing so much more! You never know about tomorrow so I just want to keep having fun!”
Skyrocketing into the 68th spot on the ASP World Rankings, Felix comes to Galicia with hopes of another great result to solidify his status as a rising Brazilian force. At ease on a long lefthander with a wall allowing multiple turns, Felix quickly found his rythmn to take the heat lead and keep it through to remainder of the 20-minute exchange.
“It’s a lot different and the water is a little cold here,” Felix said. “The waves are always changing, I caught some good lefts in this heat, but I think if the swell builds we may see some great rights tomorrow. After my win last week, I believe a lot more in myself and I’ll advance heat by heat knowing I have something to do here.”
Vicente Romero (ESP), 20, put on a great show today in his Round of 96 bout, finding an excellent score of 8.83 out of 10 in the first few minutes, quickly backed up with a decent second wave. Leading the heat well ahead of his opponents, the young Spaniard started trying airs on the inside section of the wave, making it interesting for the crowd sitting on the hill in front of the main peak.
“I had a good heat, with a lot of waves,” Romero said. “Dimitri was surfing another peak so it was just three of us out there, and it was easier to get waves. In the first minutes I found my 8.83 so after that I was a lot more relaxed all the heat. I tried to do a couple airs, I just had fun, the conditions are good and I think it’s only going to get better!”
Romero, who finished his 2012 European Junior season ranked third, has just started competing in the Star events and seems to have a hard time acclimating to the next level. With a diverse surfing repertoire that includes powersurfing as well as progressive aerial maneuvers, the twenty-year old has got all the talent required and will now need to find his rythmn amongst older and more experienced competitors.
“I surfed in Lacanau, Zarautz and Azores so far, and in all three events I didn’t get good results, I only made one heat. I want to try and surf the whole Star Tour, even though it’s pretty tough without sponsors, so my objective is to get a good result in the upcoming World Junior Finals and try to find a sponsor then, to be able to do the full tour next year.”
Gordon Fontaine (GBR) 22, also had a good start to his Cabreiroa Pantin Classic Pro campaign today, winning his heat and making his way into the top three scorers of the competition so far. The talented regular-footer originating from Britanny has found similarities with his homebreak and acclimated perfectly to the Pantin line-up founding the waves with the most potential for scores.
“I had a hard time at the beginning there, but then I caught a first wave and scored 5 something and it got me into it.” Fontaine said. “Then I got that bomb, and I tried both to surf safely and not fall but at the same time I wanted to score good. It was a really good left and I was right in the spot. I had to paddle hard to get it and I thought I might want to keep some energy for the wave, but I got it! I took off, and did a first good roller and a floater, and a few turns, it’s pretty long.”
After a promising 13th place in the opening European Star event of 2012, Fontaine had a few close calls but never managed to get through heats in the major events of the summer-leg. Sitting in 31st position on the European rankings before the Cabreiroa Pantin Classic Pro, Fontaine will have the opportunity in Pantin to ameliorate his situation with a good result.
“My season has been pretty bad so far, in all events recently I lost in the first round, sometimes it was very close, but in the end it just makes me hungry for heat wins. I know I’m not here to qualify or anything, but I’d like to get some experience, surf against good surfers, get the scores and win a little money in the process, that’s pretty much why I’m here so it feels good to get through that one.”
Perth Standlick (AUS) 22, was another standout today scoring an impressive 8.00 out of 10 for a combination of powerful gauges on a beautiful left in the opening heats of the Round of 96. After his second place in Zarautz, Standlick had a shocking first round elimination in Azores last week, and is out to regain confidence in the water in Pantin.
“Even though I just won, I still feel I had a shocker,” Standlick stated. “I was struggling at the beginning of the heat to find a decent wave, and then I went to my plan B and it ended up being better. Plan B was to sit and wait for the lefts, not even go near anyone on the rights and just do my own thing. It’s a pretty fun left but it’s a little bit fat, so you got to really pick the right one that’s going to stand up.”
Conditions are expected to improve tomorrow with a bigger swell, and event officials have decided to reconvene at 10am to decide on the day’s schedule.
The 2012 Cabreiroa Pantin Classic Pro is scheduled from September 12-16, 2012 in Playa de Pantin, Galicia. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases and LIVE webcast, log on to pantin.aspeurope.com.
The Cabreiroa Pantin Classic Pro is made possible with the support of the following event partners: Estrella Galicia, Cabreiroa, MINI, Ferrol, Diputacion de A Coruna, Concello de Ferrol, Concello de Valdovino, Xunta de Galicia, Deporte Galego, Ferrol Turismo, Concello de Cedeira, Concello de Neda, Kentes, Gadis, Pago, McDonald’s, PSVITA, Intermax, Nilox, Federacion Galega de Surf e bodyboard, Oceans Surf Club, Wahrld, Vazva.
REMAINING CABREIROA PANTIN CLASSIC PRO ROUND OF 96 MATCHUPS:
Heat 13: Diego Cadena (MEX), Daniel Karren (AUS), Yassine Ramdani (MAR), Dane Hall (GBR) Heat 14: Carlos Munoz (CRI), Abdel El Harim (MAR), Romain Cloitre (FRA), Christoffer Hartkopp (DNK) Heat 15: Cahill Bell-Warren (AUS), Remi Petersen (NLD), Teale Vanner (AUS), Andre Silva (BRA) Heat 16: Lucas Santamaria (ARG), Enrique Ariitu (PYF), Rudy Marechal (FRA), Hugo Cornec (REU)
CABREIROA PANTIN CLASSIC PRO ROUND OF 96 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Steven Pierson (PYF) 13.23, Justin Mujica (PRT) 10.67, Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) 9.73, Jhon Junior (PRT) 8.83 Heat 2: Hugo Dubosc (REU) 10.53, Jesus Chacon (VEN) 8.74, Marcelo Rodriguez (ARG) 7.60, Joao Guedes (PRT) 5.90 Heat 3: Perth Standlick (AUS) 13.67, Jean Schaffer (VEN) 11.60, Marco Fernandez (BRA) 10.16, Pablo Monteiro (ESP) 4.47 Heat 4: Francisco Alves (PRT) 9.23, Norman Landa (EUK) 6.94, Daniel Aznar Gonzalez (ESP) 6.77, Ethan Egiguren (EUK) 5.04 Heat 5: Vicente Romero (ESP) 14.66, Dimitri Ouvre (GLP) 12.33, Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 9.50, Pedro Correia (PRT) 5.17 Heat 6: Messias Felix (BRA) 15.40, Borja Agote (EUK) 8.36, Roland Lefeuvre (FRA) 7.03, Saxon Lumsden (AUS) 5.87 Heat 7: Jatyr Berasaluce (EUK) 13.07, Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) 12.94, Romain Laulhe (FRA) 10.30, Yoackim Guichard (NOR) 5.50 Heat 8: Gordon Fontaine (GBR) 13.63, Adrien Valero (FRA) 11.03, Filipe Jervis (PRT) 10.16, Denny Mendoza (VEN) 6.03 Heat 9: Carlo Zapata (PER) 13.03, David Van Zyl (ZAF) 9.50, Freddie Meadows (SWE) 8.50, Jaymes Triglone (AUS) 7.13 Heat 10: Alexandre Chacon (BRA) 12.40, Rafael Pereira (VEN) 11.57, Stuart Campbell (GBR) 7.80, David Diaz (VEN) 6.43 Heat 11: Julio Nurse (VEN), Andre Oziol (BRA), Ruda Carvalho (BRA), Noah Erickson (USA) Heat 12: Magnum Martinez (VEN) 12.27, Dylan Southworth (MEX) 11.67, Heremoana Luciani (PYF) 11.13, Indar Unanue (EUK) 9.93
CABREIROA PANTIN CLASSIC PRO ROUND OF 112 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Jhon Junior (PRT) 12.40, Jesus Chacon (VEN) 8.90, Adrian Ortiz (VEN) 5.67, Armando Colucci (ITA) 3.00 Heat 2: Pablo Monteiro (ESP) 6.33, Daniel Aznar Gonzalez (ESP) 5.33, Cheyne Willis (HAW) 3.87, Alex Kamkoff (USA) 3.77 Heat 3: Pedro Correia (PRT) 11.30, Roland Lefeuvre (FRA) 9.86, Lucas Guichard (NOR) 9.30, Roberto Alvarez Junquera (ESP) 3.77 Heat 4: Yoackim Guichard (NOR) 10.33, Denny Mendoza (VEN) 6.33, Greg Urata (USA) 4.87, Timothy Latte (SWE) 4.76 Heat 5: Freddie Meadows (SWE) 12.67, David Diaz (VEN) 8.77, Rainel Bravo (VEN) 7.53, Francisco Mendiolagoitia (ESP) 3.54 Heat 6: Noah Erickson (USA) 11.73, Heremoana Luciani (PYF) 9.64, Luis Eyre (GBR) 8.43, Alexander El Naib (DEU) 0.93 Heat 7: Dane Hall (GBR) 9.16, Christoffer Hartkopp (DNK) 7.83, Ronald Reyes (VEN) 6.80, Tereva David (PYF) 6.64 Heat 8: Andre Silva (BRA) 13.46, Hugo Cornec (REU) 7.54, Colin Saunders (VEN) 6.27, Roy Van Eijk (NLD) 4.93
