Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro
Presented by Rip Curl

ASP 6 Star WQS Mens event
Itauna, Saquarema Brazil
14 - 19 July 2009 

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Neco Padaratz campeão do Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro

Neco Padaratz Defeats Hizunome Bettero to Claim Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro   |  Portugues

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 18 July, 2009 : - - Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro -- In a Brazilian final and with his second final in a row, Brazilian Neco Padaratz (32) claimed the 2009 Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro pres. by Rip Curl over an in-form Hizunome Bettero (23), in good two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves at the main site of Itauna Beach at Saquarema.

Event No. 20 on the 2009 ASP WQS Men’s Tour, the Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro saw perfect waves the whole week and marked the return of Saquarema City into the WQS Tour.  Neco Padaratz (10.84 points of possible 20) defeated Hizunome Bettero (9.40 points), rocketing to World No. 54 on the ASP World Qualifying Series, gaining 57 positions and pocketing US$ 20.000 as well as 2.500 ASP WQS ratings points.

"Saquarema is great! There are people that says that in Brazil there are no good waves, but they say that because they don’t know Saquarema" said Neco Padaratz. "I am very happy and excited. Recently I was going through a hard time in my life with my injury, but I knew that one day my time would come and come. I’m really happy, but I have a long road ahead to reach all my dreams".

Attacking the 35-minute final of the Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro pres. by Rip Curl with unprecedented determination, Padaratz rode every lump of swell, snatching an early heat lead with a 6.17 (out of 10.00) for some clean frontside turns, riding out in an explosion of whitewater off his final maneuver.

While his opponent Bettero opted to play the patience game, catching his first good wave at the 20 minute mark, Bettero projected fast out of his top turns, maintaining speed and power in the wind-affected waves to score a 6.77.

After that, Padaratz dropped a small felt hander and with three backside turns got a 4,67 wave and further extend his lead over Bettero, who was left looking for a 4.07. With no more waves coming, Bettero was unable to find another wave and Padaratz finish in first at the Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro pres. by Rip Curl, his second final in a row (he finished in second last week in Florianopolis).

An emotional Padaratz was chaired up the beach by his friend Raoni Monteiro, surrounded by a sea of adoring fans and media crew all wanting a piece of the newly-crowned champ.

"Unfortunately the waves dissapeared in the final. I had a mistake in a good wave that could increase my leading, but with no more waves coming, Bettero couldn’t do anything” commented Padaratz, which proved to be in great form to the rest of the year. "I will continue fighting. Slowly I will returning to my best shape”.

"I want to congratulate Hizu (Hizunome Bettero), which is a great surfer, and also for providing Saquarema this special moment for us, in this unforgettable final. We had excellent waves all week that left everyone happy here, Saquarema is a wonderful place and will be forever in my heart" added Padaratz.

The Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro runner-up Brazilian Hizunome Bettero finished with his career best result, taking home US$ 10.000 and 2.188 points as well as a serious boost of confidence, Bettero moved from 119th to 70th place in the Ranking.

"The wind came right in the final, so there is not that I could do, this is the nature, it happens every time. But Padaratz is a great friend, a guy who inspired me since childhood and a final with him is an immense pleasure" said Bettero. "If I win, I would be super happy, but I am also happy for his victory. I accompanied him for many years since the World Tour and now it’s the time to him come back, so there is no problem losing to him".

Finishing in equal third positions in the Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro pres. by Rip Curl were the Australian Brent Dorrington (22) and Brazilian Willian Cardoso (23). Both surfers earned US$ 5.000 each as well as 1.875 ratings points with Dorrington moving to 47th position and Cardoso to the 24th place.

Netting good to great performances all week, Dorrington was relegated into second place by an in-form Bettero during their Semifinal, the Australian needing only a 6.90 to advance to the final of Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro pres. by Rip Curl.

”If I had known I was going to come here and get third I would have been stoked, but to need a 7 to make a final is incredibly disappointing because I’ve caught a hundred of good waves this week, unfortunately the waves got messy and I fall of a little bit” said Dorrington. “It’s disappointing but I’m still happy with this result. I will come back here in Brazil in a few months and maybe I got another good result”.

The Brazilian young surfer Willian Cardoso (23) suffered a similar Semifinal loss. After posting a excellent 9.00 during the Quarterfinal, Cardoso lost confidence against Padaratz in the Semis, but a third place in the Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro still a good result for Cardoso, who still close to the top fifteen surfers of the WQS Ranking.

“The waves were really hard with the high tide and the on-shore winds, very bumpy and I couldn’t do too much in the semis. It was a pity, but I stocked because this is my best result in years and Neco is a warrior” said Cardoso. “Brazil was great for me, I had a sequence of good heats and now I have more two good results”.

Cardoso also spoke about his friend Padaratz after the semifinals of Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro pres. by Rip Curl. “It is difficult to see a guy who always fight until the end, he made an excellent contest, he is my idol. I had the opportunity to travel with him, to live with him and he deserves the best, he is a great guy”.

ASP WQS No. 1 Jadson Andre (BRA) took home an equal fifth place finish, same result as last week at Florianopolis, joining fellow Quarterfinalists Royden Bryson (ZAF), Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) and Brett Simpson (USA), all of whom earned US$ 2.950 and 1.625 points.

Next stop on the 2009 ASP Men’s WQS Tour will begin this week at Huntington Beach, California, USA, with a 6-Star event.

The Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro presented by Rip Curl is a realization of Adding Sports with sponsor by Coca-Cola, Rip Curl and Rio de Janeiro State Government and Secretaryship from the Turism, Culture and Sports of Rio de Janeiro and Saquarema Local Government and Secretaryship from Turism, Culture and Sports of Saquarema; with the support of Ministry of Tourism of Federal Government and Unimed Araruama. The event is a 6 star event sanctioned by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) – ASP South America, realization by Rio de Janeiro Surf Federation (FESERJ) and Saquarema Beach Local Association and Live Coverage by ESPN Brasil TV and live web coverage.  

COCA-COLA SAQUAREMA PRO pres. by Rip Curl – GREAT-FINAL:
FINAL: Neco Padaratz (BRA) 10.84 def. Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 9.40

COCA-COLA SAQUAREMA PRO pres. by Rip Curl – SEMI-FINALS:
SF 1: Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 14.33 def. Brent Dorrington (AUS) 12.43
SF 2: Neco Padaratz (BRA) 15.50 def. Willian Cardoso (BRA) 13.80

COCA-COLA SAQUAREMA PRO pres. by Rip Curl – QUARTER-FINALS:
QF 1: Brent Dorrington (AUS) 14.20 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 12.67
QF 2: Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 11.54 def. Royden Bryson (ZAF) 11.17
QF 3: Neco Padaratz (BRA) 15.07 def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 11.20
QF 4: Willian Cardoso (BRA) 14.17 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 10.56

Check the Full Results

2009 WQS RANKING  – after 20 events:

1	Andre,Jadson	BRA	13350
2	Ross,Daniel	AUS	12225
3	Melling,Adam	AUS	12051
4	Wright,Owen	AUS	11338
5	Wilkinson,Matt	AUS	10925
6	Gudauskas,Tanner	USA	10700
7	Thornton,Blake	AUS	10638
8	Gudauskas,Patrick	USA	10513
9	Simpson,Brett	USA	10501
10	Duru,Joan	FRA	10188
11	Payne,Dusty	HAW	9800
12	Ware,Austin	USA	9763
13	Yeomans,Nathan	USA	9625
14	Logie,Travis	ZAF	9414
15	Munro,Luke	AUS	9189
16	Sedley,Leigh	AUS	8838
17	Polo,Marco	BRA	8826
18	Howse,Jarrad	AUS	8625
19	Neves,Leonardo	BRA	8613
20	Zubizarreta,Gony	ESP	8601
21	Atkinson,Dion	AUS	8576
22	Hall,Glenn	IRE	8513
23	Nicol,Yadin	AUS	8364
24	Cardoso,Willian	BRA	8314
25	Ohno,Masatoshi	JPN	8264
26	Silva,Jean da	BRA	8250
27	Gossmann,Shaun	AUS	8238
28	Dornelles,Rodrigo	BRA	8201
29	Gonzalez,Jonathan	CNY	8100
30	Giorgi,Marco	URY	8038
31	Cloitre,Romain	FRA	8026
32	Sodre,Yuri	BRA	8025
33	Dantas,Wiggolly	BRA	7963
34	Bryson,Royden	ZAF	7951
35	Jackson,Brandon	ZAF	7738
36	Thompson,Jay	AUS	7688
37	Paulino,Pablo	BRA	7651
38	Courtney,Drew	AUS	7513
39	Moura,Paulo	BRA	7314
40	Robertson,Adam	AUS	7226
41	Hedge,Nathan	AUS	7181
42	Toth,Brian	PRI	7139
43	Wright,Warwick	ZAF	7069
44	Lopez,Cory	USA	6970
45	Gudauskas,Dane	USA	6876
46	Collazo,Hodei	EUK	6851
47	Dorrington,Brent	AUS	6714
48	Palmboom,Rudy	ZAF	6592
49	Galvao,Renato	BRA	6513
50	Perry,Jack	AUS	6464

Check the Full Ratings

Previous reports:
# 1 : Rip Curl presents Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro set to fire
# 2 : 6-Star Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro by Rip Curl kicks off
# 3 : Amazing surfing on Day 3 of Coca-Cola Saquarema Pro 
# 4 : Coming soon  

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