Billabong Azores Islands Pro
presented by Nissan

ASP Prime Men's event
ASP 6-Star Women's event
Ribeira Grande, S Miguel Island Azores
10 - 15 August 2010

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Favourites Struggle at Billabong Azores Islands Women’s Pro  |  Portuguese embaixo

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 August, 2010 : - - Sao Miguel, Azores Islands -- Day one of the Billabong Azores Islands Women’s Pro presented by Nissan an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) sanctioned event kicked off with the ASP Women’s 6-Star in small clean 2-3ft conditions completing two rounds of competition with many standout performances from the stacked international field.

After a forced halt to proceedings due to the high tide an afternoon session was celebrated at the main event site. All surfers competing at the Billabong Azores Islands Pro presented by Nissan are out to gain crucial world rating points and all Europeans are searching to improve their points tally on the European Open Series title race.

Joanne Defay (FRA) 17, and Pauline Ado (FRA) 19, led the charge on day one of competition with wins in their respective heats to advance to the third round. In a stacked heat Ado overcame current ASP Women’s World Tour ratings nº2 Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) who placed second ousting Felicity Palmateer (AUS) and Alana Blanchard (HAW). Defay was not to be out done when in the first heat after over a 6 hour break for the tide came home with the goods and will join Ado in heat nº1 of the next round.

Getting off to what turned out to be an unbeatable lead Defay surfed with power and flow in the tricky conditions to obtain a real confidence boost heading into the business end of the draw.

Lee Ann Curren : photo Aquashot/aspeurope.com

“It was not easy and the waves were not easy either and with the long wait for the tide to go out it was all very difficult. I got that first waves which was a 5.33 and when you get a wave like that it gives me the confidence for the rest of the heat so it was good and in the end I was thinking that everything was ok and that I would get through the heat.”

Despite finishing second Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) remains one of the firm favourites with a first up appearance early this morning scoring an 8.5 out of a possible 10 the highest single score and a two wave total of 15.93 the highest of the event. Sophia Mulanovich (PER) scored a last minute ride to also place second in her heat  behind Tyler Wright (AUS) to scrape through to live to fight another day. 

Trailing throughout the entire clash which Wright totally dominated the 2004 ASP Women’s World Champion laid down a series of strong backhand turns to oust Bruna Schmitz (BRA) and Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) in one of the closest finishes of the round.

Courtney Conlogue (USA) 18, also one of the favourites in the Billabong Azores Islands Women’s Pro presented by Nissan placed second in her round two clash. Getting off to a good start she was beaten on the siren by Nicola Atherton (AUS) and her last scoring wave.   Conologue summed up the conditions and the reasons behind the results coming through in the after session.

Courtney Conlogue : photo Aquashot/aspeurope.com

“It reminds me a lot of Virginia Beach in Florida and you just have to play your cards and hopefully it goes your way because you have to be in the right spot at the right time to get through.”

“Definitely none of these heats are easy,” continued Colognue. “With these waves you really have to work twice as hard because you have the competitors who want to get through and then you have the waves as a factor as well so you just have to be where you need to be in each heat and hopefully you can get through.”

The Billabong Azores Islands Pro presented by Nissan with make a call at 07:00 (local time) tomorrow for both men and women with the firm possibility that round one of the men’s event will kick off proceedings.

For all results, videos, photos and news log-on to aspeurope.com

Alana Blanchard : photo Aquashot/aspeurope.com

UPCOMING ROUND THREE MATCH-UPS BILLABONG AZORES ISLANDS WOMENS PRO
Heat 1: Joanne Defay (FRA), Pauline Ado (FRA), Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Heat 2: Claire Bevilacqua (AUS), Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Nicola Atherton (AUS)
Heat 3: Nage Melamed (HAW), Tyler Wright (AUS), Bianca Buitendag (ZAF)
Heat 4: Laura Enever (AUS), Sophia Mulanovich (PER), Cannelle Bulard (REU)

BILLABONG AZORES ISLANDS WOMEN PRO ROUND TWO RESULTS
Heat 1: Joanne Defay (FRA) 10.00, Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 8.90, Claudia Goncalves (BRA) 6.77, Jacqueline Silva (BRA)
Heat 2: Pauline Ado (FRA) 12.17, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 11.03, Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 9.73, Alana Blanchard (HAW)
Heat 3: Nicola Atherton (AUS) 10.77, Courtney Conlogue (USA) 10.23, Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 9.60, Ornella Pellizzari
Heat 4: Nage Melamed (HAW) 14.40, Laura Enever (AUS) 13.24, Nikita Robb (ZAF) 9.70, Tarryn Chudleigh (ZAF) 5.50
Heat 5: Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.00, Sophia Mulanovich (PER) 10.74, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 10.64, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
Heat 6: Cannelle Bulard (REU) 11.50, Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 10.00, Justine Dupont (FRA) 7.00, Sage Erickson (USA)

BILLABONG AZORES ISLANDS WOMEN PRO ROUND ONE RESULTS
Heat 1: Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) 14.84, Pauline Ado (FRA) 9.73, Suelen Naraisa (BRA) 6.63, Anne Cecile Le Tallec (FRA)
Heat 2: Joanne Defay (FRA) 6.84, Felicity Palmateer (AUS) 6.33, Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 4.80
Heat 3: Alana Blanchard (HAW) 14.67, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 9.33, Freya Prumm (AUS) 5.27
Heat 4: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 15.93, Claudia Goncalves (BRA) 11.50, Francisca Santos (PRT) 3.13
Heat 5: Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 12.67, Nage Melamed (HAW) 10.43, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 7.66, Amy Stewart (AUS)
Heat 6: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 13.57, Nikita Robb (ZAF) 8.87
Heat 7: Laura Enever (AUS) 7.00, Nicola Atherton (AUS) 6.83, Amandine Sanchez (FRA) 5.10
Heat 8: Tarryn Chudleigh (ZAF) 9.84, Ornella Pellizzari (ARG) 8.67, Paige Hareb (NZL) 6.53
Heat 9: Sophia Mulanovich (PER) 11.57, Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 8.70, Erica Hosseini (USA) 7.90, Carina Da Silva (PRT)
Heat 10: Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.03, Sage Erickson (USA) 7.70, Joana Rocha (PRT) 3.43
Heat 11: Justine Dupont (FRA) 10.33, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 6.07, Lore Eizaguirre (EUK) 4.06, Sarah Beardmore (GBR)
Heat 12: Cannelle Bulard (REU) 9.67, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 8.97, Jessica Santorik (NZL) 5.40

UPCOMING BILLABONG AZORES ISLANDS PRO MATCH-UPS
Heat 1: Granger Larsen (HAW), Hugo Savalli (REU), Beyrick De Vries (ZAF), Tom Curren (USA)
Heat 2: T.J Barron (HAW), Anthony Walsh (AUS), Mitch Coleborn (AUS), Andre Teixeira (BRA)
Heat 3: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Eric Geiselman (USA), Killian Garland (USA), Omer Bar (ISR)
Heat 4: David Weare (ZAF), Richard Christie (NZL), Kai Barger (HAW), Joackim Petersen Guichard (NOR)
Heat 5: Brian Toth (PRI), Shaun Joubert (ZAF), Dede Suryana (IDN), Luca Petersen Guichard (NOR)
Heat 6: Andre Silva (BRA), Rhys Bombaci (AUS), Jack Perry (AUS), Dane Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 7: Eneko Acero (EUK), Ricky Basnett (ZAF), Patrick Beven (FRA), Eduardo Fernandes (PRT)
Heat 8: Jihad Khodr (BRA), Marlon Lipke (DEU), Alan Stokes (GBR), Robertson Goncalves (PRT)
Heat 9: Miguel Pupo (BRA), Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Jorge Spanner (BRA), Devan MacNicol (ZAF)
Heat 10: Paulo Moura (BRA), Jay Quinn (NZL), Billy Stairmand (NZL), Masatoshi Ohno (JPN)
Heat 11: Bernardo Miranda (BRA), Brendon Gibbens (ZAF), Kieran Horn (USA), Jay Davies (AUS)
Heat 12: Tiago Camarao (BRA), Brad Ettinger (USA), Parrish Byrne (AUS), Oli Adams (GBR)
Heat 13: Dylan Graves (PRI), Kevin Sullivan (HAW), Brent Dorrington (AUS), Gregory Weatherall (NZL)
Heat 14: Tomas Hermes (BRA), Gony Zubizarreta (ESP), Manuel Selman (CHL), Madison Williams (AUS)
Heat 15: Heath Joske (AUS), Torrey Meister (HAW), Cory Ziems (AUS), Romain Laulhe (FRA)
Heat 16: Kiron Jabour (BRA), Casey Brown (HAW), Jean Da Silva (BRA), Cheyne Willis (HAW)

www.aspeurope.com
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www.wqsazores.com/info

Sally Fitzgibbons : photo Aquashot/aspeurope.com

Portuguese

Arrancou hoje a prova feminina

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 August, 2010 : - - Sao Miguel, Azores Islands -- Começou hoje, na Praia do Monte Verde, Ribeira Grande, ilha de S. Miguel, o Billabong Azores Islands Pro presented by Nissan, com boas ondas de 0,5m a 1m. Foi um dia longo, com início cerca das 7h40m, para a primeira fase da prova feminina.

Cerca de 48 atletas disputaram o primeiro round, com algumas surpresas e outras tantas confirmações. De uma coisa ficámos com a certeza – está aqui o melhor surf feminino do mundo! Entre nove atletas do World Tour e muitas jovens talentosas, pretendentes a esses dezassete lugares, assistimos a baterias muito disputadas, com resultados mistos.

Os destaques dessa primeira fase vão seguramente para as Top 17 Claire Bevilacqua, Sally Fitzgibbons e Sofia Mulanovich (campeã mundial em 2004), vencedoras destacadas das suas respectivas baterias, mas também para jovens como a francesa Joanne Defay (campeã europeia Pro Junior em título), as suas conterrâneas Justine Dupont e Cannelle Bulard, as australianas Tyler Wright e Laura Enever (campeã mundial Pro Junior 2010), para a americana Courtney Conlogue e para as amigas havaianas Bethany Hamilton e Alana Blanchard.

Mas as surpresas também foram grandes, com a eliminação de três atletas do World Tour feminino – a francesa Lee Ann Curren, a sul-africana Roseanne Hodge e a neo-zelandesa Paige Hareb.

Eliminadas nesta fase ficaram também as três surfistas portuguesas presentes neste evento: a actual líder do ranking nacional feminino e campeã Pro Junior 2010, Carina Duarte, da Ericeira, a sua conterrânea Joana Rocha (campeã nacional em título) e Francisca Pereira dos Santos, ex-campeã nacional e Top 20 deste circuito em 2009.

A mais jovem das três, Carina, de 16 anos, foi a que ficou mais perto de passar à segunda fase, com uma pontuação total de apenas um ponto a menos que a segunda classificada – e apurada para o segundo round.

Depois de uma pausa a meio do dia, devido à total ausência de ondas causada pela maré cheia, a prova recomeçou perto das 17h, com a segunda fase feminina, onde se assistiu novamente a baterias muito disputadas e resultados surpresa.

As vencedoras das seis eliminatórias foram todas atletas da nova geração, muitas delas ainda juniores, com destaque para a pequena havaiana Nage Melamed, que fez uma das maiores pontuações do dia (14,40 em 20 pontos possíveis) e, juntamente com Laura Enever, foi responsável pela eliminação de mais uma atleta do World Tour feminino – a sul-africana Nikita Robb, filha de mãe portuguesa, assim como da sua conterrânea Tarryn Chudleigh.

Outros destaque ficam por conta de Tyler Wright (irmã mais nova do Top 45 mundial Owen Wright), Nicola Atherton e das francesas Joanne Defay, Pauline Ado (ex-campeã mundial júnior) e Cannelle Bulard, que venceram também as suas baterias, encontrando-se assim entre as 12 últimas atletas em prova.

Ainda no segundo round, ficaram para trás Bruna Schmitz e Jessi Miley-Dyer (mais duas Top 17), num heat muito disputado, contra Sofia Mulanovich e Tyler Wright, mas ainda Jacqueline Silva (ex-vice-campeã mundial), Alana Blanchard e Bethany Hamilton, que foi uma das grandes favoritas do muito público que assistiu à prova durante a tarde, aqui nas areias da Praia do Monte Verde, mas que acabou por não avançar mais na prova.

Amanhã o check-in está marcado novamente para as 7h, com o provável início da competição masculina ou da terceira fase feminina, dependendo das condições do mar.

O Billabong Azores Islands Pro presented by Nissan é organizado pela DAAZ Eventos e pela USBA (União de Surfistas e Bodyboarders dos Açores), conta com o patrocínio do Turismo dos Açores, da Billabong e da Nissan Portugal, da Câmara Municipal da Ribeira Grande, Sumol e TMN, contando ainda com os apoios da SATA, Ericeira Surf Shop, Dakine, RTP Açores, Visão, Antena 3, Go-S.TV, Surf Portugal e Surf Total.

www.aspeurope.com
www.purofeeling.com 
www.wqsazores.com/info

Previous reports:
# 1 : Prime time in the Azores as Billabong Pro ready to roll
# 2 : Top world & Euro surfers to descend on Sao Miguel
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

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