Latin Underground Shines at ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Pro Puerto Escondido
PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Oaxaca/Mexico (Saturday, July 17, 2010) – A contingent of international underground Latino talent flared on the second day of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Quiksilver Pro Puerto Escondido today in firing six foot (2 metre) Mexican Pipeline barrels.
The Quiksilver Pro Puerto Escondido’s iconic location of Playa Zicatela has not only attracted some of the hungriest up-and-comers searching for invaluable points towards their ASP One World Ranking, but also some of the world’s most marquee big-wave athletes.
Carlos Concalvez (ECU), 24, clinched an emphatic win in a spectacular heat with all competitors trading off unbelievable barrel-rides while hunting for their spot in the main round. The Ecuador native drove through two crisp lefthand barrels to attain the highest heat total of the event, an impressive 16.40 out of 20 while moving through to Round 4.
“I’m stoked, Felipe (Cesarano) got that wave that was almost a 10 and I thought from the ning that I was almost done,” Concalvez said. “I found a small left that I got a good score on and right away I got another left and built my score. Thank God I made it. I’m happy to have won the best heat of the event so far.”
Felipe Cesarano (BRA), 25, finished behind Concalvez in the paramount heat by starting his bout off with a near perfect 9.5 out of 10 by threading an impressive double-barrel and picked up a solid backup score shortly after to eliminate young Mexican local Cesar Petroni (Puerto Escondido, MEX), who posted the highest single wave score of the entire event, a 9.85 out of 10, but still finished in fourth while searching for a second score.
“I saw that beautiful right and took off,” Cesarano said. “Halfway through the wave my board started getting shaky and I didn’t think I was going to make it. I was deep in the barrel and I thought it was going to close out on me, but I ended up making it.”
With another firing south swell expected to detonate Playa Zicatela’s infamous beachbreak in the next few days, Cesarano is thrilled at the chance to surf big Mexican Pipeline against the event’s top seeds.
“Last year the waves were small and this year the fore looks better,” Cesarano said. “I’m happy because now that I made this round I’m in the money round.”
Gilbert Brown (Salsa Brava, CRI), 27, who was a standout at last year’s ASP 3-Star Quiksilver Pro Puerto Escondido, clinched a come-from-behind win in the dying minutes of his heat with a critical forehand barrel to catapult the young Costa Rican from third place into the lead.
“The heat was really tough and I started with a small barrel and had another little lay back,” Brown said. “We were in the situation where it was so tough, no one was getting clean barrels, so I was so happy when I moved to the other side and that wave came. It looked like it was going to close out so I knew I had to move to the right a little bit and give it a little time. I kind of claimed it, because I knew a wave like that would help me get through that round.”
Standout Surfers still awaiting their opening round heats include big-wave charger Mark Healy (HAW), 28, fellow Hawaiians Kiron Jabour (North Shore, HI), 20, Tyler Newton (Kauai, HI), 19, 2008 ASP North America Pro Junior Series Champion Cory Arrambide (Ventura, CA), 21, and top seed Alejo Muniz (BRA), 20.
Event organizers at the ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Pro Puerto Escondido will reconvene at 7am tomorrow local time for a possible 7:30 start. For all of the LIVE action log on to www.quiksilver.com/puerto
For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org
Quiksilver Pro Puerto Escondido Round of 80 Results:
Heat 3: Michele Veronesi (MEX) 8.10, Lucas Santamaria (ARG) 7.65, Adam D’Esposito (HAW) 3.45, Chris Rodriguez (USA) 3.05
Heat 4: Gilbert Lopez (CRI) 11.75, Diego Cadena (MEX) 10.55, Thiago Camarao (BRA) 7.55, Rusty Long (USA) 6.65
Heat 5: Federico Pilurzu (CRI) 14.50, Andan Hernandez (MEX) 11.50, Carlos Munoz (CRI) 9.25, Killan Garland (USA) 9.10
Heat 6: Carlos Goncalvez (ECU) 16.10, Felipe Cesarano (BRA) 15.75, Cesar Petroni (MEX) 12.55, Alvaro Malpartida (PER) 11.50
Heat 7: Andres Di Marco (ARG) 11.50, Christian Corzo (MEX) 6.55, Johnny Noris (USA) 4.95, Nate Cintas (USA) 3.85
Heat 8: Gonzalo Velasco (PER) 5.85, Angelo Donano (MEX) 4.45, Chano Munoz (MEX) 3.95, Ian Crane (USA) ns
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