PRAIA DE SANTA BARBARA, Sao Miguel/Azores Islands (Wednesday, September 5, 2012) - A consistent swell in the 2-3Ft range and lighter winds allowed the ASP 6-Star SATA Airlines Azores Pro to start today with the completion of the first round of competition and the first four heats of the second round. Competition started early this morning to offer 12 hours of entertainment to the local crowds and see the last heat of the day completed before dark this evening.
Evan Geiselman (USA) 19, opened his Azores campaign strong in Heat 2 of the second round this afternoon, making his way into the third round of competition ahead of his older brother Eric in an intense 25 minutes exchange. Evan put on the stronger performance dominating the heat with the highest score of the day an excellent 8.93 out of 10, and backing it up with a solid 6.83.
“I’ve looked up to him (brother Eric) ever since I was growing up, so he gets all the credit for where my surfing is now.” Evan said. “This is my first couple of events coming back from an ankle injury, so I’m really just trying to surf my best and take each heat at a time, no pressure.”
Messias Felix (BRA) 26, was the second highest scorer today and was rewarded an 8.43 for a combination of both traditional power surfing and a progressive aerial manoeuvers. The talented Brazilian from Fortaleza looked sharp in the small waves on offer today and will be a serious contender in Round two when competition resumes tomorrow.
“This is my second time here in Azores, the first time unfortunately we didn’t get any waves and couldn’t finish the contest but today was a great day for me I had a good start!” Felix stated. “I hope I can just keep going like this in the contest and hopefully go far, a final would be really good! My board is a 5’10 roundpin, and it’s just perfect for these conditions.”
Amongst the large field of Brazilians hungry for victory, Felix has been a consistent performer and managed to adapt perfectly to the small conditions on offer today. Where some surfers preferred a ‘one big manoeuver’ approach in the earlier heats today, he found some fun looking shoulders and managed to combine two styles of surfing.
“I had a good air and a strong turn on the same wave and that’s what they gave me the 8.43 for. I think it’s good to mix it up and do your best on the wave with what it offers, I’m super happy with those scores!”
Tiago Pires (PRT) 32, current World NO. 20, started the Round of 96 action with a bang, claiming the third highest combined heat total of the day counting on an 8.33 and a 6.83 out of 10. The Portuguese powerhouse found a great little righthander he tore apart with his lethal fronthand attack.
“It was good to open up the heat strong, I was waiting for the right waves and managed to catch a good first one and nothing came after that.” Pires stated. “It was a pretty frustrating heat, I think the boys, Frederico (Morais) and Ryan (Callinan) wanted to show some moves and they didn’t have many opportunities out there and I was lucky this bomb came to me. I’m stoked I felt good and my board feels good, it’s always good to shake the dust off of your shoulders.”
One of only three European ambassadors on the ASP World Championship Tour, Pires has had a roller-coaster of a season so far in 2012 and will be looking to re-gain momentum in the back-half of the year to maintain his position amongst the Elite Top 34 in 2013.
“Outside of competition I’ve probably only been here twice, usually in winter looking for bigger waves, so I’m not really local but I love the place, I like the people here and I come here to help the local surfing community and of course it’s a good training.”
Cory Arrambide (USA) 23, recent equal third place finisher in the Basque Country last week, confirmed his excellent form today in Azores netting one of the highest single wave score of the event so far, an excellent 8.00 point ride. The young Californian qualified for the Round of 96 ahead of Miguel Tudela (PER).
“It was small but there were actually a lot of opportunities out there this morning,” Arrambide said. “I was scrambling for a milion waves and I was scared I was going to surf more than fifteen before I got a score but I told myself to just roll the dice on a couple and I got the score!”
After jumping almost 50 steps up on the ASP World Rankings thanks to his excellent semifinal result in Zarautz and following another strong performance in Florida the previous week, Arrambide seems to be gaining consistency and will be a force to be reckoned with for the remainder of the event.
“I finally got my confidence back after those events, I feel good and not really nervous anymore, it feels so good to just go in your heat with no pressure. I was here last year and even though I did bad and lost first heat, I actually had a good time and had good waves, it such an incredible place and people are really cool and I was stoked to come back!”
Flavio Nakagima (BRA), 24, collected one of the highest heat totals of the day, and earned his spot into the second round of competition at Praia de Santa Barbara. Dominating Heat 17 this afternoon, the Sao Paolo local didn’t leave any chance to his opponents catching a good wave in the first seconds of their exchange to be rewarded a 6.83, and took the heat lead which he never let go.
“It was pretty small today but very similar to what I’m used to surf at my homebreak in Brazil,” Nakagima said. “So it was fun and I’m happy to get those two good scores, 7.40 and 6.83 on cool little rights and lefts. My best score was a great right which I surfed backside and I did four good turns. My other wave I was super lucky to get it, a good little left in the first seconds of the heat!”
The next call is set to 7:15am tomorrow morning and with a promising forecast, tomorrow will most probably see another long day of competition at Praia de Santa Barbara, Azores Islands. Action will resume with Heat 5 of the Round of 96 in which rising American star Nat Young (USA) will take on Jano Belo (BRA), Luke Davis (USA) and Manuel Selman (CHL).
The ASP 6-Star SATA Airlines Azores Pro is scheduled from September 4-9, 2012 in Sao Miguel, Azores Islands. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases log on to zarautz.aspeurope.com.
The SATA Airlines Azores Pro is organized by DAAZ Eventos and USBA (União de Surfistas e Bodyboarders dos Açores) with the support of the following event partners: SATA Airlines, do Turismo dos Açores, Câmara Municipal da Ribeira Grande, Sumol, Moche, and the participation of Hotel Vip Executive Açores, FUEL TV as official TV Channel, RFM, RTP, Jornal i, Surf Total, Surf Portugal and ONFIRE.
REMAINING SATA AIRLINES AZORES PRO ROUND OF 96 MATCHUPS:
Heat 5: Nat Young (USA), Jano Belo (BRA), Luke Davis (USA), Manuel Selman (CHL) Heat 6: Romain Cloitre (FRA), Billy Stairmand (NZL), Alan Donato (BRA), Filipe Jervis (PRT) Heat 7: Hizunome Bettero (BRA), Aritz Aranburu (EUK), Krystian Kymerson (BRA), Jerome Forrest (AUS) Heat 8: Sebastien Zietz (HAW), Gony Zubizarreta (ESP), Garrett Parkes (AUS), Alexandre Chacon (BRA) Heat 9: William Cardoso (BRA), Bernardo Miranda (BRA), Cory Arrambide (USA), Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) Heat 10: Joan Duru (FRA), Shaun Joubert (ZAF), Miguel Tudela (PER), Messias Felix (BRA) Heat 11: Jay Thompson (AUS), Lincoln Taylor (AUS), Ian Gouveia (BRA), Guillermo Satt (CHL) Heat 12: Filipe Toledo (BRA), Masatoshi Ohno (JPN), Tanner Gudauskas (USA), Peterson Crisanto (BRA) Heat 13: Glenn Hall (IRL), Medi Veminardi (REU), Jeffrey Lukasik (USA), Santiago Muniz (ARG) Heat 14: Dion Atkinson (AUS), Matt Banting (AUS), Gavin Gillette (HAW), Thomas Woods (AUS) Heat 15: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA), Nathan Hedge (AUS), Dillon Perillo (USA), Yujiro Tsuji (JPN) Heat 16: Granger Larsen (HAW), Vincent Duvignac (FRA), Ian Crane (USA), Eneko Acero (EUK) Heat 17: Jean Da Silva (BRA), Adrien Toyon (FRA), Flavio Nakagima (BRA), Ty Watson (AUS) Heat 18: Caio Ibelli (BRA), Stu Kennedy (AUS), Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN), Teale Vanner (AUS) Heat 19: Keanu Asing (HAW), Thiago Camarao (BRA), Cristobal De Col (PER), Rudy Marechal (FRA) Heat 20: Nathan Yeomans (USA), Kiron Jabour (HAW), Simao Romao (BRA), Marco Fernandez (BRA) Heat 21: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Hodei Collazo (EUK), Sidney Guimaraes (BRA), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) Heat 22: Alex Ribeiro (BRA), Marc Lacomare (FRA), Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Alan Jhones (BRA) Heat 23: Charles Martin (GLP), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Vicente Romero (ESP), Bruno Rodrigues (BRA) Heat 24: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Nunes Weverton (PRT), David Do Carmo (BRA), Marlon Lipke (DEU)
SATA AIRLINES AZORES PRO ROUND OF 96 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Tiago Pires (PRT) 15.16, Frederico Morais (PRT) 8.77, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 6.83, Pedro Lopes Cordeiro (PRT) 2.86 Heat 2: Evan Geiselman (USA) 15.76, Eric Geiselman (USA) 12.43, Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 10.64, Perth Standlick (AUS) 9.20 Heat 3: Tim Macdonald (AUS) 11.80, Steven Pierson (PYF) 11.30, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 10.94, Dale Staples (ZAF) 6.07 Heat 4: Alain Riou (PYF) 13.30, Brian Toth (PRI) 12.07, Ruda Carvalho (BRA) 8.20, Mitch Crews (AUS) 8.04
SATA AIRLINES AZORES PRO ROUND OF 144 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Frederico Morais (PRT) 12.67, Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 11.97, Chase Wilson (USA) 8.14, Heremoana Luciani (PYF) 3.37 Heat 2: Eric Geiselman (USA) 12.44, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 12.17, Diego Cadena (MEX) 6.90 Heat 3: Steven Pierson (PYF) 8.50, Ruda Carvalho (BRA) 7.84, Davey Cathels (AUS) 7.69, Romain Laulhe (FRA) 6.10 Heat 4: Mitch Crews (AUS) 9.90, Tim Macdonald (AUS) 9.87, Lucas Santamaria (ARG) 7.03, Jaymes Triglone (AUS) 6.90 Heat 5: Luke Davis (USA) 11.00, Alan Donato (BRA) 9.63, Rafael Pereira (VEN) 7.76 Heat 6: Filipe Jervis (PRT) 9.70, Manuel Selman (CHL) 7.83, Luel Felipe (BRA) 7.33, Chirstian Saenz (USA) 7.20 Heat 7: Krystian Kymerson (BRA) 12.87, Garrett Parkes (AUS) 10.87, David Van Zyl (ZAF) 6.66, Enrique Ariitu (PYF) 4.93 Heat 8: Alexandre Chacon (BRA) 11.16, Jerome Forrest (AUS) 10.10, Leonardo Neves (BRA) 9.10, Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 8.56 Heat 9: Cory Arrambide (USA) 12.43, Miguel Tudela (PER) 11.83, Cahill Bell-Warren (AUS) 8.90, Magnum Martinez (VEN) 7.84 Heat 10: Messias Felix (BRA) 16.16, Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 11.14, Leandro Usuna (ARG) 7.36, Dylan Southworth (MEX) 5.20 Heat 11: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 12.93, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 12.53, Halley Batista (BRA) 9.87, Taylor Clark (USA) 8.00 Heat 12: Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 10.40, Guillermo Satt (CHL) 9.84, Jordin Watson (AUS) 6.64, Freddie Meadows (SWE) 6.40 Heat 13: Jeffrey Lukasik (USA) 8.80, Gavin Gilette (HAW) 8.57, Matt-Lewis Hewitt (NZL) 6.94, Tereva David (PYF) 5.90 Heat 14: Thomas Woods (AUS) 11.23, Santiago Muniz (ARG) 9.80, Brad Ettinger (USA) 8.17, Jose Ferreira (PRT) 5.27 Heat 15: Dillon Perillo (USA) 11.67, Ian Crane (USA) 11.17, Ricardo Christie (NZL) 7.16, Remi Petersen (NLD) 4.33 Heat 16: Eneko Acero (EUK) 11.20, Yujiro Tsuji (JPN) 10.97, Nic Von Rupp (DEU) 10.53, Saxon Lumsden (AUS) 6.06 Heat 17: Flavio Nakagima (BRA) 14.23, Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) 10.30, Dimitri Ouvre (GLP) 10.23, Teppei Tajima (JPN) 6.63 Heat 18: Teale Vanner (AUS) 11.50, Ty Watson (AUS) 8.60, Carlos Munoz (CRI) 6.70, Norman Landa (EUK) 6.24 Heat 19: Cristobal De Col (PER) 12.70, Simao Romao (BRA) 10.77, Soli Bailey (AUS) 8.90, Joao Guedes (PRT) 8.44 Heat 20: Marco Fernandez (BRA) 13.16, Rudy Marechal (FRA) 7.53 Heat 21: Sidney Guimaraes (BRA) 10.00, Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 9.74, Bino Lopes (BRA) 9.57, Andre Oziol (HAW) 5.66 Heat 22: Alan Jhones (BRA) 12.80, Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 10.83, Marcelo Rodriguez (ARG) 7.36, Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) 6.64 Heat 23: Vicente Romero (ESP) 11.50, David Do Carmo (BRA) 8.73, Matt Pagan (USA) 8.50,Tristan Guilbaud (FRA) 8.14 Heat 24: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 10.56, Bruno Rodrigues (BRA) 10.20, Connor O’Leary (AUS) 7.83, Cheyne Willis (HAW) 2.87
