Gabriel Medina Does it Again at Supersurf Internacional
FLORIANOPOLIS, Santa Catarina, Brazil (Thursday, September 30, 2010) – Once again, Praia do Santinho offered very nice conditions with 3-5 ft (1.0-1.5 m) waves braking mostly lefthanders on a shallow sand bank for the ASP World 6-Star SuperSurf Internacional event on the third day of competition.
And for a second time Gabriel Medina (BRA), 16, posted the day’s highlights scoring just the same heat total score of 18.43 he had yesterday on the SuperSurf 2010. Medina’s impressive performance today was a prime example of the innovative surfing as he threw an array of progressive maneuvers including massive air moves to set the day’s highest single-wave score of a 9.93 in course to the day’s highest heat total of 18.43 while winning his Round of 48 surfer’s heat.
“The waves got better today, with very good lefthanders coming through, and I’m stoked by having made a maneuver I was trying to make a long time which is the Kerrupt Flip”, told Gabriel medina. “Yesterday I scored the day’s highest score with a tube ride, and today I did that again, this time executing an aerial. I’ve been training another aerial that I want to try next, but this one is very difficult. I need good results to qualify for the World tour, so I’ll keep trying all the latest tricks to get past the heats”.
Medina is going to face two international surfers in the fourth round, the South African Brandon Jackson and the Uruguayan Marco Giorgi. He’s been called by the international surfing community as the Brazil’s new phenomenon, even his opponents admires his progressive surfing. “Gabriel Medina is an exceptional surfer, he’s a very focused kid and he will have a bright future on the World Tour, for sure,” says Marcelo Nunes, a former WCT surfer who’s got second in the heat won by Medina.
“My first wave was a very good left and I managed to throw two strong turns. I was really focused to overcome Medina, but it didn’t happen. He caught a wave right next to me and then threw a bullshit air, and in another wave he made a crazy front side tail slide reentry, I’m happy I made it through in the second place though”, said Marcelo Nunes ho’s going to face Alex Ribeiro and Charlie Brown in the round of 24 surfers.
On the opening heat of the round of 48 surfers Pedro Henrique also used the air moves as his strongest weapon in the way to became one of the highlights of the this Thursday at Praia do Santinho. “The swell was more aligned today producing very good lefts, and with the south winds blowing, this all makes the air moves easier to complete for whoever is goofy footer. I surfed the way I like it with joy, throwing some airs. This excites me more than doing the traditional, that kind of surfing just to pass the heats. I want to fly high, which is what I like more”, said Pedro who’s going to compete in the fourth round against Raoni Monteiro and Simao Romao.
Simao established the first high-score of the day, a 9.07 pts on a long left wall where he made a series of backside reentries and carves throwing hips of water on the waves of Praia do Santinho.
“That was a heavy heat competing against local hero Neco Padaratz, he is a person I greatly admire, one of my idols, and it is an honor to compete with him and I tried to give my best to win,” said Romao. “I started the heat surfing two smaller waves, and then I decided to wait for the bigger sets, when a big left came to me and I maneuvered as hard as I could to get that high score of 9.07. The waves at this contest are really good and all I did was to try to hit hard on the most critical sections of the waves, because I think that’s what the judges want to see”.
Among the international surfers, the first to succeed was South African Brandon Jackson, who won a particular duel with Rodrigo Dornelles in the fight for second place in the heat won by Alex Ribeiro. The surfer from South Africa and the Uruguayan Marco Giorgi will be the next opponents of the absolute record holder in the championship, Gabriel Medina.
“There’s a strong rip out there that makes it a little hard to stay positioned to catch the waves”, said Brandon Jackson, who also flew high on the Praia do Santinho. “Actually, I only had one chance to try an air; I went for it and ended up making it. I’m feeling good here in these waves and gaining confidence to try to get a good result here. Despite knowing that it is very difficult to compete against the Brazilians in their own field, I’ll try.”
Check the event live webcast at www.aspsouthamerica.com.br
Category: All ASP News, ASP Star News
