Sintra Pro - Day 3 - The seeds fall ...
Source: www.ibaworldtour.com
posted by Terry McKenna on 24th August 2007
Today was an action packed day at Praia Grande, as the World's best bodyboarders put on an astonishing show of athleticism in perfect 3-4 feet dredging right-handers.
In the first of the round 8 heats for men current ratings leader Ben Player (AUS) and Manuel Centeno (PORT) outclassed in form qualifiers Mathieu Desaphine (FRA) and Ardiel Jiminez (SPN). "Yeah, the level of surfing here is amazing. This is probably the best that I have ever seen Praia Grande for the event, the riders are exploding out of the bowl with massive back flips and inverts and it makes it hard to know what the other riders are capable of. A good wave comes in they can get a 9 or a 10 point ride today" said Player.
Heat 2 saw one of the best performances of the day from Uri Valadao (BRZ) when he had the crowd on it’s feet with a soaring invert that defied gravity. The real battle in this heat was for second place and in the end Silvano Lourenco (POR) held off a determined Damian King (AUS) and Paulo Barcellos (BRZ) to score a spot in the quarter finals.
Heat 3. Unbelievable!! Wave for wave all four riders pushed the level of professional bodyboarding to new levels. Mike Stewart (USAH) turned back the clock to score one of the deepest barrels of the event by parking it in a dredging right hand cavern and Luis Villar (BRZ) consistently picked of the prime sets and with 15 seconds left on the clock looked safe ... until.
Until the best single wave score of the event was produced by Diego Cabera (SPN) a 9.35 and Mike was gone ... in a blink. Cabera moved to first, Villar to second and Mike was left wondering what happened. "He got on the inside of me on that last one and I looked at it and knew that I may have been in trouble" said Mike. Louis-Piere Costes (FRA) was 4th.
Heat 4 and once again the seeds fell to the qualifiers as Helio Conde (POR) and Jaime Jesus (POR) were lifted by the local support to outshine Dallas Singer (AUS) and Dave Hubbard (USAH). Singer needed a 5.91 on his last ride and fell painfully short with a 5.25.
Heat 5 Amaury Laverhne (REUN) and Mark McCarthy (SAFR) were in sync with the good waves from the opening minute. Adam Luehman (AUS) and Jonathan Vega (SPN) dip out.
Heat 6 and the seeds dominate with Yuri Martinez (SPN) and Andrew Lester (AUS) both getting into rhythm early. Yuri dominates the winning waves with solid in the pocket surfing while Lester looked hungry and back-flipped into second. When the dust settled, Ivan Gouvia (SPN) & Goncalo Silva (POR) finish 3rd & 4th respectively.
The crowd enthusiastically viewed heat 7 as current World Champion Jeff Hubbard (USAH) hit the water. Hubb never really got a roll-on and struggled as the early morning glass turned a little trashy with the cross-shore wind. Magno Oliveria (BRZ) was on fire and on his best wave rode deep in the throat of a churning right-hander and rolled out of the pocket to secure a win. Oliver Herrera (SPN) held off Hubb for second with local Hugo Nunes (POR) 4th.
The last of the R8 heats was an absorbing battle with Gastao Entrudo (POR) and John Showell (AUS) finishing in front of Aritz Larrinaga (SPN) & Hugo Pinheiro (POR).
Going into the ¼’s 9 of the top 16 had fallen to the qualifiers. Sometimes the guys coming through the early rounds have the advantage of familiarizing themselves with the break and this seemed evident today.
In the Women’s division the two standout’s of round 2 were Mandy Zeiren (Aust) and Unate Aguirre (SPN). Both girls set the standard for tomorrows quarter finals.
Other heat winners included Karla COSTA-TAYLOR (BRZ), Mayla VENTURIN,(BRZ), Soraia ROCHA,(BRZ), Isabela SOUSA (BRZ), Aoi KOIKE (JPN) & Lilly POLLARD (AUS)
The event is being webcast at
www.surfingportugal.com
The Sintra Portugal Pro is not only the longest running Professional Bodyboard event in the world but it's also the richest.
The SINTRA PORTUGAL PRO 2007 counts on the supports of the City council of Sintra, of the Super Bock, the TMN, the Vitalis, the Wave, the Isuzo, the IDP - Institute of the Sport of Portugal, of the APB - Portuguese Association of Bodyboard, of the IBA - International Bodyboarding Association, of Extreme Sports Channel, the Action Waves, the Targus, the ViewSonic, the B2BR, backfliponline.com, the Bodyboard Center and Mega FM.
www.ibatour.com
www.sintraportugalpro2007.blogspot.com
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