Quarterfinalists Decided at ASP 1-Star Cordoama Buondi Pro
German Marlon Lipke blasts into the Quarterfinals at the ASP 1-Star Cordoama Buondi Pro.
CORDOAMA, Portugal (Friday, July 9, 2010) – The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Cordoama Buondi Pro 1-star Men’s Star-Series ran through to decide the final eight surfers who will battle it out in the quarter-finals for this year’s Cordoama Buondi Pro title. There were numerous close battles and many stand-outs through both rounds held today.
Windblown 3-4ft (1-1.2m) waves entered the main event site at Praia de Cordoama offering plenty of opportunity to impress the judges with modern high performance surfing. Under clear skies the crowd on hand witnessed a blend of future talent pitted against some of the veterans of the ASP European region.
The stand-out surfer was Marlon Lipke (DEU), former Dream Tour member in 2009, who completely dominated his two heats today racking up the two highest individual scores of the event so far. A former winner here at Cordoama and having grown up in the area Lipke used his local knowledge to perfection choosing the longer lefts further down the beach to smash turn after turn on his way to victory.
Yannick de Jager (NDL) pushed Lipke early in the round three clash with an impressive opening exchange by both surfers. Taking the opening lead De Jager tried valiantly to holt the inform Lipke who at the half way mark in the heat secured an 8.67 out of a possible 10 to gain the lead which from there he never surrendered.
“We took off on the same wave at the start of the heat,” explained Lipke about his exchange with De Jager. “He got the better score and that put some pressure on me and I knew that he can always do another good score and I would have been in a difficult spot to get out of but in the end I was lucky to get another one of those long lefts which opened up a bit more for me and it was easier to surf than my first ride. Unfortunately Yannick (De Jager) didn’t find another wave otherwise it could have come down to the last seconds.”
Lipke felt literally at home as this area is where he spent a lot of his earlier years and proved the spot where his surfing was honed during his childhood. With conditions once again tough in the later afternoon heats Lipke knew that under these conditions he was competing with a slight advantage.
“When you surf at home you have a feeling for the ocean a little more than usual so it is always a bigger advantage to surf at your home break as you know how the ocean moves here. It is hard to explain exactly the feeling you get but it is definitely an advantage for me.”
Nicolaus Rupp (DEU) will be keen to maintain today’s form in the following rounds as he put on an amazing display of powerful speed surfing at times showing that he is fully motivated and ready to take on all comers who cross his path to the final. Having had a disappointing season last year Rupp now feels totally confident with both himself and his equipment.
“It is an event for getting in the rhythm again as we have the whole pro junior series ahead of us and I have been training really hard this year to get good results because last year I had a bad year. Now I am on amazing boards and they go good in small and big waves so I couldn’t feel better at the moment.”
“The waves are difficult to surf but there are some lips out there where you can do some big turns. I was a bit stressed at the start but I got that 7 point ride which was a good score for the conditions and then that last wave to get through.”
Rupp like Lipke has spent a lot of time in this area of South Portugal and especially at Cordoama in his younger years and it showed today in his surfing. Rupp explains,
“I have been doing this event for so long and it is such a good event to get into the rhythm again and I have been coming here to surf since I was really young so it is like a tradition now for me to come here and compete.”
Indar Perez (EUK) scored a popular victory as he was applauded by his fellow Basque surfers up the beach after securing his place in the quarters over coming Miguel Mouzinho (PRT) in a tight 20-minute clash.
Starting slowly in a low scoring heat it was Perez who hooked into the wave of the heat and did not f as he proceeded to rack up the points for an 8.33 ride out of a possible 10 and claim the victory.
“I felt comfortable out there because in the water it was easier to spot the peaks than what it looks like from the beach. I was lucky enough to catch a right which I could do a couple of strong turns and that in the end gave me the victory. It came in as one of the biggest waves of the heat which allowed me to get two strong turns inrow and I am happy getting an 8 point ride.”
Perez knows that he still has a lot of work ahead of him in his quest for a podium finish at the Cordoama Buondi Pro 2010 edition.
“In the quarters it is going to be really tough because there is a really high level of surfing here but I am going to try and do the best I can. It feels good to get through a few heats and get points for the regional ratings and it definitely motivates me to see that I can get through heats and it boosts my morale a lot.”
Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 22, former runner-up and twice finalist here at Cordoama continued his good form at this event and points out that as his best result so far for the season the confidence boost is more than welcome coming into the final rounds of competition.
“I’m happy to get through to the quarter-finals here because I tried my best in the heat and the waves are tricky. It is one of my best events for the year and I came second here two years ago and last year I came third so I like this event. I have competed in other WQS events this year but so far this is my best result.”
The Cordoama Buondi Pro will continue tomorrow with the first call at 11:00 (local time) for quarter-final heats.
For all event results, photos and daily news and live scores log-on to www.aspeurope.com
CORDOAMA BUONDI PRO QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS
QF 1: Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) Vs Jose Ferreira (PRT)
QF 2: Nicolaus Rupp (DEU) Vs Marcos San Segundo (EUK)
QF 3: Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) Vs Eduardo Fernandes (PRT)
QF 4: Indar Perez (EUK) Vs Marlon Lipke (DEU)
CODOAMA BUONDI PRO ROUND THREE RESULTS
Heat 1: Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 13.83 Def. Justin Mujica (PRT) 11.43
Heat 2: Jose Ferreira (PRT) 8.50, Def. Txaber Trojaola (EUK) 6.10
Heat 3: Nicolaus Rupp (DEU) 11.73 Def. Rowan Aish (NZL) 11.10
Heat 4: Marcos San Segundo (EUK) 9.10 Def. Francisco Alves (PRT) 8.70
Heat 5: Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) 12.34 Def. David Raimundo (PRT) 6.67
Heat 6: Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) Def. Filipe Jervis (PRT) 9.07
Heat 7: Indar Perez (EUK) 11.66 Def. Miguel Mouzinho (PRT) 7.83
Heat 8: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 16.17 Def. Yannick de Jager (NDL) 13.16
CORDOAMA BUONDI PRO ROUND TWO RESULT
Heat 1: Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 11.10, Jose Ferreira (PRT) 10.53, Jatyr Berasaluce (EUK) 9.23
Heat 2: Txaber Trojaola (EUK) 11.83, Justin Mujica (PRT) 8.17, Alex Gironi (EUK) 5.33
Heat 3: Nicolaus Rupp (DEU) 13.50, Marcos San Segundo (EUK) 9.06, Freddie Meadows (SWE) 4.25
Heat 4: Francisco Alves (PRT) 9.86, Rowan Aish (NZL) 9.60, Hugo Debosc (FRA) 8.13
Heat 5: David Raimundo (PRT) 13.00, Filipe Jervis (PRT) 12.07, Joao Guedes (PRT) 8.84
Heat 6: Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 10.63, Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) 10.07, Mario Azurza (EUK) 9.50
Heat 7: Indar Perez (EUK) 12.00, Yannick de Jager (NDL) 9.74, Txaber Gaminde (EUK) 6.20
Heat 8: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 14.33, Miguel Mouzinho (PRT) 10.50, Pedro Berasaluce (EUK) 6.10
Category: All ASP News, ASP Star News
