Team News

Five Europeans Still in Contention at Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 30 June, 2009 : - - Capbreton -- The two first rounds of the 2009 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro, fourth stop on this year’s ASP World Tour, have been completed in good conditions last weekend and five out of seven European representatives remain in contention for the crown.

ASP Dream Tour rookies Michel Bourez (Tahiti, PYF), 23, and Tim Boal (Anglet, FRA), 25, were the first of the contingent to secure their Round 3 berths, both men winning their opening battle to avoid the elimination Round 2 where fellow rookie Marlon Lipke (Algarve, DEU), 24, and Aritz Aranburu (Zarautz, EUK), 23, were to lose.

Boal, who has been avoiding direct eliminations since the start of the year, repeated his strategy to best South African Durbanites Greg Emslie and Jordy Smith in Round 1, the French surfer posting a good 12.66 point heat tally (out of a possible 20) to advance ahead of favorite Smith, World No. 6 before the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro.

“It [was] pretty challenging out there with lots of current and it [was] difficult to stay in position,” Boal said on his Round 1 heat. “Everyone knows how good Jordy (Smith) is and Greg (Emslie) is really experienced. Everyone was pretty spread out so that was good, but Greg ended up getting that one right at the end so that was nerve-wracking. Stoked to make it through though.”

Boal’s early win put him straight into Round 3, where he will face fellow French surfer and undisputed European leader on the ASP World Tour Jeremy Flores (Capbreton/New Caledonia, FRA), 21, who had to get through Round 2, the sudden-death round, to secure his spot and keep his Brazilian hopes alive.

Other inform rookie to advance to Round 3 without facing the second round stress was Bourez, the Tahitian charger taking the best out of his encounter with Australian surfers Kieren Perrow and Drew Courtney, finishing with a reasonable 13.50 point heat score (out of a possible 20). Bourez, who was expected to battle for the ASP Rookie of the Year award when he qualified for the ASP Dream Tour in 2008, has not been able to show his true talent since the start of the year, and is looking forward to a first big result in Brazil.

“Things definitely haven’t gone the way I thought they would [since the year started],” Bourez said. “When you’re a rookie, and because I had such a good finish last year, I thought I was going to come onto the tour and kick ass and finish Top 5. But the tour is hard. The level of surfing is so high and sometimes things just don’t go your way. I just got back from a Red Bull trip in Indo and that really psyched me up. Seeing all the guys go crazy over there made me want to push my own surfing and now I’m in Brazil looking for a result. My goal now is to requalify.”

Bourez will now face event defending champion and 2008 ASP World Tour No. 2 surfer Bede Durbidge (Queensland, AUS), in the opening heat of Round 3 of the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro.

Both rookies were joined Sunday by fellow European surfers and experienced competitors Jeremy Flores, Michael Picon (Capbreton, FRA) and Tiago Pires (Ericeira, PRT), The three men were all able to escape a last place finish by winning their respective Man-on-man match-ups against Phil MacDonald (AUS), former event runner-up Kai Otton (AUS) and famous surfer Dane Reynolds (California, USA).

Picon, who was the only European of the pack looking for a first win this year on tour, came up with solid front-side attack to best Otton, runner-up to Fanning in 2007 and known to be a dangerous opponent in any conditions. At 30 years old, Picon remains one to count with within the ASP Top 45 and the Capbreton resident will be looking to equal his result from last year when competition resumes, an equal 3rd place that remains his best result to date. His next test will be against former ASP World Champion CJ Hobgood (Florida, USA).

HANG LOOSE SANTA CATARINA PRO, EUROPEANS’ ROUND 3 HEATS

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) Vs Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) Vs Tim Boal (FRA)
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) Vs Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 13: CJ Hobgood (USA) Vs Michael Picon (FRA)

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