Day One of ASP PRIME Quiksilver Pro Portugal RIBEIRA D’ILHAS/ERICEIRA, Portugal (Tuesday, June 14, 2011) – The opening day of the ASP PRIME Quiksilver Pro Portugal witnessed two intense sessions of surfing separated by the high tide with Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA) 19, leading the stacked international field of elite surfers in rippable 3-4ft (1m) right-handers at Ribera D’Ilhas. The ASP PRIME Quiksilver Pro Portugal offers massive points and has attracted a selection of the world’s finest competitors looking to qualify or maintain their position on the ASP World Tour. European surfers are also out to gain the added points on offer for the ASP European Men’s Series. Young was on fire as he attacked the main peak with a savage backhand attack that saw him in total sync with the ocean to consistently find the better waves of the 30-minute clash. After discarding several solid scoring waves, Young amassed a two-wave heat total of 16.97 out of 20 including a near perfect 9.10. “There are waves similar to this definitely where I live and I thought that I was in rhythm every time I paddled back out. I would catch a wave and it was a lot of fun. Everything just kind of went my way which was awesome.” Young, whose heat total is the highest of the event, suddenly finds himself as the form surfer at the Quiksilver Pro Portugal with the added pressure that goes along with a display of such caliber. Young’s backhand surfing was lightening fast with massive hacks in the pocket combined with speed and flow to complete the judging criteria to a tee. “Hopefully I can do the same in the next heat the same as I did now. You can tell which ones have got the good walls and they are the ones you want so hopefully I can do it again in a couple more heats. Sometimes you get a high score in your heat and then there is a bit more pressure in the next one but big scores also give you confidence as well.” Young, sitting nº52 on the ASP World rankings after a result starved first half of the season, hopes to focus ahead to the end of the year knowing his chances of making the mid-year cut to enter the elite ASP World Tour are slim. “I am not really looking to qualify at the halfway mark. Right now it would be pretty tough and I would probably have to win at two contests. I just want to do well and get a good result under my belt because I haven’t had one yet this year and maybe finish off the year with better results.” Quiksilver Pro Portugal top seed Jeremy Flores (FRA) 23, current elite ASP World Tour ranked nº11, cruised to a comfortable win in his first-up appearance after opening his account with two consecutive high scoring waves after his heat had been placed on hold for over 4 hours due to the high tide. “I just arrived last night so I got to have a free surf when I was supposed to surf before and I am stoked to get through that one to start. It is a really tricky wave because with high tide and low tide it is a completely different wave and it has all these sections so you want to make all these connections.” Flores worked the long right-handers connecting rail-to-rail snaps and speed floaters to link through to the inside bowl. A recent illness was not evident as Flores powered all his turns to their maximum potential. “I got a blood infection in Brazil and I was stuck there for 10 days and now I have just come back from a week at home on Reunion Island and I was stoked to be back home and see my family and my friends I hadn’t seen in several years.” Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17, recent ASP PRIME event winner in Brazil, who is currently in nº27 position on the ASP World rankings and inside the 32-man cut-off point advanced through to Round 2 after a slow start that eventually built momentum to finish his last wave with a series of backhand snaps to secure an 8.00 out of 10 and a combined heat total of 15.10. “I feel good and it is good to get through that heat. Having Jihad (Khodr) with me in the same heat was fun and I have learned things from him because he was on the World Tour for a long time. I feel confident at the moment but I don’t think too much about qualifying right now.” Pat Gudauskas (San Clemente, USA) 25, managed to brush off a niggling neck injury to rack up a series of forehand gouges to secure an 8.50 out of 10, one of the highest single-wave scores of the day. Failing to find a solid backup score, Gudauskas placed second behind a fired up Tiago Camarao (BRA) eventual heat winner. “I love this wave but I tweaked my neck a little before the heat,” explained Gudauskas. “I was stoked to be loose out there. The PRIMES and the WT events are all equally important to me at this stage so it is good to surf a lot of heats, have fun and make the most of it. Hopefully I’ll have some good performances which adds to your whole vibe and that would be my goal right now.” Austin Ware (USA) 30, up first in heat nº1, relied on his experience, wave selection

• published: 14 Jun 2011
• views: 3796

Julian Wilson Raises Performance Level at ASP PRIME Quiksilver Pro Portugal RIBEIRA D’ILHAS/ERICEIRA, Portugal (Thursday, June 16, 2011) – The ASP PRIME Quiksilver Pro Portugal witnessed an incredible marathon day of performance surfing with elite ASP World Tour member Julian Wilson (Sunshine Coast, AUS) 22, raising the bar in both his appearances. Round Two of competition was completed late this afternoon in excellent 4-5ft (1.2m) right-handers at the reef point-break of Ribera D'Ilhas. The ASP PRIME Quiksilver Pro Portugal offers massive points and has attracted a selection of the World’s finest competitors looking to qualify or maintain their position on the ASP World Tour. European surfers are also out to gain the added points on offer for the ASP European Men’s Series. After being on hold for over three hours early this morning the Quiksilver Pro Portugal was rewarded with signs of a building swell. As the tide dropped out and started to push back in with a pulsing ground swell conditions pumped offering long rippable walls through to night fall. Wilson, current ASP World nº 30, needed less than 5 minutes from the opening siren in his first heat to hook into two consecutive bombs to amass a combined two-wave total of 17.60 out of 20, the highest of the event. Despite placing second in his second encounter, Wilson still cracked out a 9.23 out of 10 with stunning innovative manoeuvres. “I actually started third in line on the point,” explained Wilson of his first heat. “I saw that set coming and the guys were deep so I paddled them out as far as I could and turned around to get the first one and that got the ball rolling. Then I lucked into that 9 which I got out in time for. It is really fun out there now because this morning it was about knee high and now it has really pumped.” Wilson, in his first year on the ASP World Tour, is hovering too close for comfort to the mid-year 32-man cut-off and hopes to get his year going with a big result. The experience gained competing against the world’s best surfers showed during his outstanding campaign opener. “I have strong results from the end of the year but I am trying to find some results at the start of the year. It is hard coming onto the Tour as a rookie because you are thrown straight into the deep end but that is the way it has to be if you want to beat those guys. I have done all I can to get some momentum going and try and stick it to those guys.” Hizunome Bettero (Ubatuba, BRA) 25, was able to push Wilson in their late afternoon heat with an opening near perfect 9.5 out of 10 which was built of massive backhand gouges on the bomb of the clash. Backing up with an 8.00 Bettero demonstrated the potential of his surfing in the excellent late conditions. “I was relaxed out the back and that first wave came all the way through and I could make some good turns so I am so stoked to get that score in such a hard heat. All the guys are surfing great and to make that heat and go through to the man-on-man I am stoked. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 23, held a controlled heat and looked comfortable with the changing swell and tide as he continued to display fast, flowing surf in the wind affected faces during the afternoon. “Man-on-man is going to be fun and it is definitely what we are used to on the World Tour as we surf like that all the time. So it is going to be interesting and we are going to be on the best waves. There is going to be some high scoring because now we are going into the final days and all the best surfers are ripping so it is really interesting. A PRIME is huge and it is here in Europe and we surf for Europe all year round. We try to do our best and an event in Europe I hope one of us can win it.” Brandon Jackson (Durban, ZAF) 24, placed second behind Flores to secure a solid result at the Quiksilver Pro Portugal. A series of forehand smashes finished off with a close-out tail-slide earned a 7.83 out of 10 and pushed Billy Stairmand (NZL) into third place and gave a pass into the next round to Jackson. “I am a big boy so I tried to gun for the big waves and I knew I could hold it on the bumps. Bigger waves and bigger turns to get the good scores. It was a stacked heat and they were all surfing really well but I went out to get my scores without thinking about them. I have had a bad year so far and it is nice to be here in Ericeira with a good right point and getting through some heats. Hopefully I can go out and make a few more.” Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17, relied on his mix of speed and innovative surfing to secure a comfortable win into the next round. High tide chop and stronger afternoon winds made conditions tougher than those experienced during the morning session of competition. “It was hard to get the clean turns but I got one good one with an 8 and a 7 so I am stoked to get through and I hope we have some good waves tomorrow too. I feel good and confident and I am trying to stay calm and enjoy the

• published: 16 Jun 2011
• views: 2272