Peterson Rosa : 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

Rio Surf Pro International opens the 6 stars Men’s WQS in Arpoador Beach     >  Portuguese 

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 8 October, 2008 : - - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - After two days of female competition, the six stars WQS by Oakley presents Rio Surf Pro International starts on Wednesday. The waves are still going on with 2 to 3 feet but the forecast indicates that they should go up from Thursday when the key competitors are on for the second and last round of 24 heats. 144 surfers from 20 countries will run for the U$135.000 prize and 2.500 points offered in the first out of three male events in a row in the Brazilian season within the ASP South America Surf Series 2008 that defines South American professional champion. 

The very first heat of the history of WQS on the beach of Arpoador started on a rainy 8:00am bringing a surprise towards the end, Heitor Alves’ elimination by Michel Roque and Alejo Muniz. Even with the highest score of the heat, 8,5, he couldn’t make a second good score to save himself. They were not even supposed to be there but the early finish of the Spanish event made it possible for Heitor and some other Brazilians in the Dream Tour to be there.   

“I’m happy for having won the first heat, there were really some good guys, Heitor Alves from the ASP World Tour, Alejo Muniz, under 18 World champion and the local Marcelo Trekinho. It was not easy,”  says Michel Roque who will have another every heat upfront against Patrick Gudauskas, who led the QS longer this year, the former Brazilian champion Gustavo Fernandes and the experienced Peterson Rosa. 

Alejo muniz entered the second heat of the second round against key surfers Simão Romão, Arpoador´s local and the North American Chris Waring. He only won his classification in the last wave he surfed on the very first heat that officially opened the male competition of the Rio Surf Pro International this Wednesday. ”I got kind of nervous when I saw the names of my heat but I followed the advice of my coach, Paulo Kid. It was hard today but the waves will get better and I will be in”, said Alejo Muniz.

VICTORY RECORD – Peterson Rosa, 34 years old, one of the most experienced surfers among the 144 in the Oakley presents Rio Surf Pro International. He reached the second place in the heat won by Jano Belo in the second heat of the day. In the entire South American WQS history, he holds the record of 8 titles since 1992, being 3 in Rio de Janeiro but not in Arpoador 

“I am simply thrilled to be here where I have already competed in the Rio de Janeiro ASP World Tour and now we are here for the first QS, in history, on that beach”, said Peterson. “It’s one of the most important surf peak in Brazil and we hope the waves get bigger, It was not easy to find those two small waves to go on with the competition”.  

Peterson didn’t even know about his own record in South American WQS. “This is the result of my good work, always wanting to win. My dream was the world title but unfortunately I didn’t get it. I’m coaching and those records are important for the new generation. 20 years of work, 17 as a professional, I’m happy to hold the Brazilian flag.” 

Shey Yates broke the Brazilian’s dominance on the third heat even though Jole Leandro dismissed the Californian Justin McBride and the Chillean Guillermo Satt. Frederico Pillurzu from Costa Rica made it through 8th heat of the day followed by Beto Fernandes. In the next battle, Mason Ho from Hawaii, overcame the three Brazilian he surfed against in the Rio Surf Pro International. 

FAMILY SURF – Closely watched by his dad Micheal Ho, who competed on that same beach in the 70’s, Mason wants to follow in her sister’s steps, Coco Ho, who added her name to the female semifinals on Tuesday. “My dad taught us about respecting the locals to be respected so I stayed away from the other competitors surfing the leftovers and managed to win with them. I am going to be in the next three events in Brazil and I want to emulate the Brazilian way of surfing this kind of waves”, said Mason. 

On the first day of the male competition in Arpoador, 16 out of 24 heats were ran to be finished tomorrow in bigger waves than the ones seen earlier this week in Rio de Janeiro. To follow, the key surfers of Rio Surf Pro International are starting to compete in the second round. The plan is to run 20 heats per day so we might go until the 12th on Thursday headed by Marlon Lipke from Germany and Guilherme Herdy from Brazil.  

The Oakley presents Rio Surf Pro International is sponsored by Oakley, Ministério do Turismo, of Secretaria de Esportes, Turismo e Lazer do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and Metro Rio, organized by Adding Produções e Eventos. The event is homologated by the Association of Surfing Professionals - ASP South America.

Check the Live Coverage  

RIO SURF PRO INTERNATIONAL – CABEÇAS-DE-CHAVE DA SEGUNDA FASE:
01: Patrick Gudauskas (EUA) e Gustavo Fernandes (RJ) x Michel Roque (CE) e Peterson Rosa (PR)
02: Chris Waring (EUA) e Simão Romão (RJ) x Jano Belo (PB) e Alejo Muniz (SC)
03: Nathan Yeomans (EUA) e Marco Polo (SC) x Shey Yates (EUA) e Marcos Pastro (SC)
04: Brett Simpson (EUA) e Bernardo Pigmeu (PE) x Jole Leandro (SP) e Halley Batista (PE)
05: Pedro Henrique (RJ) e Leandro Bastos (RJ) x Tânio Barreto (AL) e Adilton Mariano (CE)
06: Austin Ware (EUA) e Dane Gudauskas (EUA) x Denis Tihara (BA) e Marcelo Bispo (RJ)
07: Dion Atkinson (EUA) e Odirlei Coutinho (SP) x Thiago de Souza (CE) e Federico Pilurzu (CRI)
08: Phillip MacDonald (AUS) e Jean da Silva (SC) x Igor Morais (RJ) e Beto Fernandes (SP)
09: Pablo Paulino (CE) e Antonio Bortoletto (AFR) x Mason Ho (HAV) e Marcio Farney (CE)
10: Adam Robertson (AUS) e Wiggolly Dantas (SP) x Diogo Leão (ES) e Anselmo Correia (RJ)
11: Yuri Sodré (RJ) e William Cardoso (SC) x Wilson Nora (BA) e Pedro Scooby (RJ)
12: Marlon Lipke (ALE) e Guilherme Herdy (RJ) x Guilherme Sodré (RJ) e Bernardo Lopes (BA)
13: Drew Courtney (AUS) e Danilo Costa (RN) x Matheus Toledo (SP) e Saulo Junior (SP)
14: Dustin Barca (HAV) e André Silva (CE) x Bruno Galini (BA) e Darrell Goodrum (EUA)
15: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) e Tanner Gudauskas (EUA)
16: Greg Emslie (AFR) e Leonardo Neves (RJ)
17: Hizunomê Bettero (SP) e Renato Galvão (SP)
18: Nathan Hedge (AUS) e Corey Ziems (AUS)
19: Dustin Cuizon (HAV) e Warwick Wright (AFR)
20: Michel Bourez (TAH) e Masatoshi Ohno (JAP)
21: Gabe Kling (EUA) e Shaun Ward (EUA)
22: Raoni Monteiro (RJ) e T. J. Barron (HAV)
23: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) e Jadson André (RN)
24: David Weare (AFR) e Robson Santos (SP)

Check the Live Coverage

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

Previous reports:
# 1 : Women open the Rio Surf Pro International at Arpoado 
# 2 : Rio Surf Pro women's semi-finalists decided Tuesday
# 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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