Page Hareb : photo Daniel Smorigo/ASP South America

Rio Surf Pro International
Presented by Oakley

ASP Men’s WQS 6 Star event
ASP Women's WQS 4 Star event
ASP South America Surf Series 2008
Praia do Arpoador, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
06 - 12 october 2008

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Girls opened the Rio Surf Pro International this Monday at Arpoador Beach    >  Portuguese 

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 6 October, 2008 : - - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Ladies first for the Oakley presents Rio Surf Pro International this cloudy Monday with nice 4 feet waves at Arpoador Beach, Rio de Janeiro. Due to bad weather they ran only the first round and a new call will be on tomorrow at 7:30am.  

All the 32 girls went out in the water today and the best performer was Tita Tavares who accomplished a 9 points ride and scored another record with 16,67 total points in her heat. That will be something to beat this week at one of the places where surf started in Brazil. 

They are competing in this 4 star-level for U$25.000 and 1.500 points while the guys got a 6 stars event with U$135.000 prize and 2.500 points. This is the very first World Qualifying Series event at Arpoador and 176 surfers from 15 countries are there for the Rio Surf Pro International.  

144 surfers from 12 countries at the man’s division, 101 Brazilians, 16 North Americans, 9 Australians, 6 Hawaiians, 4 South Africans, 2 French’s and Tahiti, Japan, Germany, Costa Rica, Chile and Venezuela with one surfer each.  Among the 32 girls 20 Brazilians are competing in Rio de Janeiro, 5 of them from Hawaii and one from each other countries such as Australia, EUA, New Zealand, Portugal, Porto Rico and Peru. Half of them were yet eliminated in the first round.  

The New Zealander Paige Hareb was semifinalist at Florianopolis’ final day last Saturday and won her first heat at Arpoador. “I got there late, my heat was already on but I managed to find good waves to win. Even in small conditions you can see the waves are strong and the place is beautiful. I need to make a final here in Brazil to improve my place in the rating list. I was pretty close to it last week and I’ll try to reach my goal here. The thing is: get in focus and take it heat by heat”, said Paige. 

The first heat was dominated by the foreigners with Kyla Langen in second place. Only Tita Tavares broke the rule establishing the first records in the whole Brazilian six heat. The four-time national champion made 9 and 7.76 rides to finish with the 16,67, the best score so far on Monday. 

“The waves are small but I’m relaxed because I’m not looking for rating points. It’s like a warm up in the middle of a national circuit. I’m here to take advantage of these WQS’s going on in Brazil. I was second at Santinho and I’ll try a victory here to close the season”, promises Tita Tavares.  

The only competitors with the odds to get into the list of six going for the WCT at Rio Surf Pro International are Claire Bevilacqua and Bethany Hamilton. They are equally in 11th rating position. Laurina McGrath (AUS) didn’t come to Brazil. She is the last on the list of nine going for the WCT. 

 “It was a cool start even on small waves. I took two small ripable ones to win. I’m happy but I wish the waves get better because I need a good result to make that trip to Brazil worth. I didn’t improve in the last competition”, said Bethany who lost an arm in a shark attack. 

It’s completely different for the man’s division, with 2.500 points available. A lot of athletes can get into the classification zone for the WCT. Some top CT’s came just in time for the Rio Surf Pro International like Heitor Alves who is scheduled for the first heat of the very first WQS in Arpoador. Adriano de Souza canceled his appearing as invitee and Leonardo Neves will replace him. 

This is the 36th stop of the World Qualifying Series (WQS)

Check the Live Coverage   

RIO SURF PRO INTERNATIONAL - WOMEN´S - ROUND 2:
Heat 1: Paige Hareb (NZL), Coco Ho (HAW), Anastasia Ashley (HAW), Natali Paola (BRA-SP)
Heat 2: Claire Bevilacqua (AUS), Bethany Hamilton (HAW), Kyla Langen (USA), Gabriela Leite (BRA-SC)
Heat 3: Alana Blanchard (HAW), Lee Ann Curren (FRA), Tita Tavares (BRA-CE), Suelen Naraisa (BRA-SP)
Heat 4: Bruna Schmitz (BRA-PR), Diana Cristina (BRA-PB), Monik Santos (BRA-PE), Brigitte Mayer (BRA-RJ) 

WOMEN´S – ROUND 1:
Heat 1: 1-Paige Hareb (NZL), 2-Kyla Langen (USA), 3-Juliana Meneguel (BRA), 4-Erica Prado (BRA)
Heat 2: 1-Coco Ho (HAW), 2-Gabriela Leite (BRA), 3-Gabriela Teixeira (BRA), 4-Claudia Gonçalves (BRA)
Heat 3: 1-Claire Bevilacqua (AUS), 2-Natali Paola (BRA), 3-Marina Werneck (BRA), 4-Valeria Sole (PER)
Heat 4: 1-Bethany Hamilton (HAW), 2-Anastasia Ashley (HAW), 3-Juliana Quint (BRA), 4-Michelle Bouillons (BRA)
Heat 5: 1-Lee Ann Curren (FRA), 2-Bruna Schmitz (BRA), 3-Isabela Lima (BRA), 4-Maria Gonzalez (PRI)
Heat 6: 1-Tita Tavares (BRA), 2-Brigitte Mayer (RJ), 3-Taís de Almeida (RJ), 4-Krisna de Souza (RN)
Heat 7: 1-Diana Cristina (BRA), 2-Alana Blanchard (HAW), 3-Monica B. Wickey (HAW), 4-Givanilta Ferreira (BRA)
Heat 8: 1-Monik Santos (BRA), 2-Suelen Naraisa (BRA), 3-Renata Tambom (BRA), 4-Joana Rocha (PRT)

www.oakley.com
http://waves.terra.com.br
www.aspsouthamerica.com.br

Previous reports:
# 1 : Coming soon
# 2 : Coming soon
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

About ASP
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the Foster’s ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.

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João Carvalho / ASP South America
joaocarvalho@matrix.com.br

Photos – Daniel Smorigo
Translator – Edinho Leite

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