Rio Surf Pro International
presented by Oakley

ASP 6 Star WQS Mens event
ASP 5 Star WQS Womens event
Arpoador Beach Rio De Janeiro Brazil
5 - 11 October 2009

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Simao Romao wins second consecutive Oakley Rio Surf Pro Int'l  |  Portugues  |  Espanol

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 11 October, 2009 : - - Rio de Janeiro – In a beatiful sunny day in Rio and in a 100% Brazilian final. Simao Romao claimed for the second time in a row the title of 2009 Rio Surf Pro International pres. by Oakley over an in-form Bernardo Miranda, in good and clean two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at Arpoador Beach, Rio de Janeiro. 

Attacking the 30-minute final with unprecedented determination, Romao rode every lump of swell, snatching an early heat lead with a 6.83 score (out of 10.00) for some clean backhand turns, riding out in an explosion of whitewater off his final maneuver. 

While his opponent Miranda opted to play the patience game, catching his first wave at the 8 minutes mark, a 4.67 score, Romao projected fast out of his top turns, maintaining speed and power in the long lefts of Arpoador to score a almost perfect 9.33 and further extend his lead over Miranda, leaving him needing a combination of two scores to win the Rio Surf Pro International pres. by Oakley. 

Missing ten minutes to go, Miranda founded a good left, and with three big turns received a 6.27 from judges, but the score was not enough to beat Romao, who finished with 16.16 points (out a possible of 20) against 10.94 points of Miranda.  

    
Simao Romeo in final : photos Smorigo/ASP South America

“I'm very happy, stoked, win here again is unbelievable. The best of all is that I can celebrate this title at home, I will not have to travel just like last year when I went from here straight to the airport, now I will make a barbecue to all of my friends, celebrate with then and with my family” said Romao, who won 20.000 dollars and 2.500 points, moving from 99th to 49th place in ASP Men’s WQS Ranking. 

“I've been training hard lately in the water, surfing every day, making a functional work in the gym, and I think this made the difference, giving me the best result for me, which is winning here at home again. No I just hope that after this victory, some company wants to sponsor me, someone who looks to me and say: This kid deserves to run the whole world tour, so I hope that after this victory things get better for me” added Romao. 

In the second semifinal, Romao was on fire sending home the American Brett Simpson, who had one of the best perfomances of the Rio Surf Pro International pres. by Oakley. “Ahh of course, I'm still stoked, third place is a good result for me, he (Simao Romao) won here last year, and definitely this is his place, he is surfing amazing, so congratulations to him. I didn’t had a good result at Guaruja last week so come here and make the semis, still a good result for me. We finally had a day of sun and fun waves, that's how I like to think about Brazil, and today we certainly had the best waves of the entire event” spoke Simpson. 

The finalist Bernardo Miranda was coming from behind, surfing every heat very confident with his strong back-side attack. “I am too happy with this result, I really expect to win the final, I was surfing well today, but Simao came with everything and found the best waves and surf really well, but I'm happy. I went through a very difficult phase recently and there was a long time that I didn’t make a final in the WQS, but now I felling 100% prepared and this result should give a good leap in the ranking and now I'm more confident to go to Canada, Canary Island and Hawaii. I couldn’t make the World Tour this year, but next year I will go with everything” said Miranda. 

Simao, Pigmeu, Dornelles & Brett Simpson : photo Smorigo/ASP South America

Miranda didn’t make a final in the WQS since 2006, and with his second place at Rio Surf Pro International pres. by Oakley he won 10.000 dollars and moved to the 35th place in the ranking. In the first semifinal, Miranda won a very slow heat over Brazilian Rodrigo Dornelles. Who left the beach in the top 15 of the WQS Ranking, in the 13th position and glad with his result. 

“Ahh for sure, third place in a 6 star event is already a great result. There was not to many waves in this heat, the best wave came when Miranda had the priority, and he surfed really well and got a high score, then I needed a little score but no wave came to me and he got another good one. But its ok, Miranda was surfing really good all the event and he deserves to be in the final. This still a great result for me, I ended up adding more 1,000 points and now I will go to Canaries with everything” conclued Dornelles. 

The ASP Men’s WQS Tour now goes to Bahia, Brazil, with a 3 star event and them to Canada with a 6 star event. 

The 2009 Rio Surf Pro International presented by Oakley are sponsored by Oakley and Skol, with co-sponsor by Metrô Rio, Rio de Janeiro State Government, Rio de Janeiro City Hall, Azul Airlines, Suzuki, WQSurf and Sandalias Ipanema RJ. The Men’s and Women’s WQS events are sanctioned by ASP South America with a realization of Adding Sports and Acesso Comunication Solutions, also with the support of Rio de Janeiro State Surfing Federation, Favela Surf Club and Arpoador Surf Club.

Backdrop to the contest : photo Smorigo/ASP South America

GREAT FINAL OF RIO SURF PRO INTERNATIONAL pres. by OAKLEY:
Champion: Simao Romao (BRA) 16.16 points with 9.33 and 6.83 scores
Runner-up: Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 10.94 points with 6.27 and 4.67 scores 

SEMI-FINALS OF RIO SURF PRO INTERNATIONAL pres. by OAKLEY :
Heat 1: Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 15.84 def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 10.93
Heat 2: Simao Romao (BRA) 13.76 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 13.00 

QUARTER-FINALS OF RIO SURF PRO INTERNATIONAL pres. by OAKLEY:
Heat 1: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 12.90 def. Royden Bryson (ZAF) 11.60
Heat 2: Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 18.14 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 14.94
Heat 3: Brett Simpson (USA) 12.00 def. Brent Dorrington (AUS) 11.60
Heat 4: Simao Romao (BRA) 17.23 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 8.00 

Check the Full Results

2009 WQS RANKING – after 32 events:

1	Ross,Daniel	AUS	14975
2	Andre,Jadson	BRA	14813
3	Wright,Owen	AUS	14338
4	Gudauskas,Patrick	USA	13876
5	Melling,Adam	AUS	13026
6	Simpson,Brett	USA	12600
7	Wilkinson,Matt	AUS	12150
8	Duru,Joan	FRA	12050
9	Thornton,Blake	AUS	11925
10	Logie,Travis	ZAF	11851
11	Ware,Austin	USA	11575
12	Payne,Dusty	HAW	11425
13	Dornelles,Rodrigo	BRA	11350
14	Hall,Glenn	IRL	11200
15	Cardoso,Willian	BRA	11151
16	Munro,Luke	AUS	11139
17	Gudauskas,Tanner	USA	11125
18	Atkinson,Dion	AUS	10563
19	Yeomans,Nathan	USA	10550
20	Jackson,Brandon	ZAF	10431
21	Zubizarreta,Gony	ESP	10351
22	Polo,Marco	BRA	10256
23	Sedley,Leigh	AUS	10100
24	Cloitre,Romain	FRA	10000
25	Dantas,Wiggolly	BRA	9650
26	Neves,Leonardo	BRA	9613
27	Courtney,Drew	AUS	9575
28	Paulino,Pablo	BRA	9550
29	Bryson,Royden	ZAF	9538
30	Nicol,Yadin	AUS	9488
31	Thompson,Jay	AUS	9438
32	Howse,Jarrad	AUS	9400
33	Gossmann,Shaun	AUS	9213
34	Pupo,Miguel	BRA	9175
35	Miranda,Bernardo	BRA	9001
36	Padaratz,Neco	BRA	8976
37	Gonzalez,Jonathan	CNY	8975
38	Dorrington,Brent	AUS	8752
39	Toth,Brian	PRI	8670
40	Aranburu,Aritz	EUK	8600
41	Galvao,Renato	BRA	8488
42	Riou,Alain	PYF	8413
43	Da Silva,Jean	BRA	8400
44	Giorgi,Marco	URY	8288
45	Sodre,Yuri	BRA	8275
46	Ohno,Masatoshi	JPN	8264
47	Bettero,Hizunome	BRA	8226
48	Medina,Gabriel	BRA	8088
49	Romao,Simao	BRA	8001
50	Collazo,Hodei	EUK	7863

Check the Full Ratings

Previous reports:
# 1 : 6-Star WQS Rio Surf Pro International by Oakley opens
# 2 : No Waves on Day 2 of Oakley Rio Surf Pro International
# 3 : Second consecutive lay day for Oakley Rio Surf Pro Int.
# 4 : Another lay day at the Oakley Rio Surf Pro International 
# 5 : Men's & Women's heats return to Oakley Rio Surf Pro 
# 6 : Jessi Miley-Dyer wins Oakley Rio Surf Pro International

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