Miky Picon : photo Warbick

Team News

Michael Picon Joins Lipke in Round 2 of Rip Curl Pro Search

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 23 October, 2009 : - - Michael Picon (Capbreton, FRA), 30, got his ticket for Round 2 of the Rip Curl Pro Search in Portugal today after besting Californian surfer Chris Ward (USA) with good surfing scoring 13.16 points (out of a possible 20) to advance.

Picon, who is looking for an excellent result at Peniche to keep any ASP Top 45 requalification hopes alive, escaped the sudden-death Round 1 netting a couple of six-point scores to secure himself a spot into tomorrow’s much awaited match-ups with the start of the event top seeds. “There is always extra pressure on this round when there is no repechage,” Picon said. “You can stress out as there is only one chance.”

Surfing on his forehand at the back-up venue of Lagido where clean three-to-four foot (1 to 1.2 meter) waves were breaking this morning, the European veteran on tour was able to display efficient surfing leaving Ward away with a heat total of 8.73 points.

“I think it is favoring the goofy footers out there,” Picon said. “The wave has some flat sections so it is probably an advantage to be able to hit the sections a little better. I just reminded myself of my good results here in the past to help my confidence in the water.”

After a tough third year amongst the elite of the ASP World Tour, Picon remains in contention to requalify for next year’s ASP Top 45 if he steps-up and secures a couple of major results from now to the end of the year. Ranked No. 39 in the world before the Rip Curl Pro Search event, the Capbreton resident has a tough but makeable mission ahead, starting in Round 2 when he meets longtime Top 10 surfer Taj Burrow (Western Australia, AUS).

For more on Michael Picon, check out his profile at aspworldtour.com

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH ROUND 1 EUROPEANS RESULTS
Heat 1: Jihad Khodr (BRA) 13.10 Def. Tim Boal (FRA) 10.84
Heat 3: Nathaniel Curran (USA) 11.00 Def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 9.67
Heat 5: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 14.66 Def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.77
Heat 8: Kai Otton (AUS) 9.90 Def. David Luis (PRT) 5.90
Heat 9: Dean Morrison (AUS) 12.34 Def. Justin Mujica (PRT) 10.34
Heat 11: Miky Picon (FRA) 13.16 Def. Chris Ward (USA)
Heat 15: Greg Emslie (ZAF) 15.67 Def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.40

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH ROUND 2 EUROPEANS’ MATCH-UPS
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) Vs Marlon Lipke (DEU)
Heat 11: Taj Burrow (AUS) Vs Michael Picon (FRA)

www.aspeurope.com
www.aspworldtour.com  

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