Difficult conditions continue at Pro Santa Cruz pres. by Noah Surf House but most of the top seeds escape treacherous Round 4.
The QS3,000 Pro Santa Cruz pres. by Noah Surf House continued for a third day of action in which the event's highest seeded surfers entered the show.
Waves remained quite difficult to tame and not all surfers managed to pick the right rides as the fourth round of competition unfolded and delivered numerous upsets among the biggest names on the QS.
Portuguese Stars Launch Qualifying Campaign on Home Soil
Vasco Ribeiro - WSL
With Frederico Morais falling off the Championship Tour at the end of last season, the race is ON for the next Portuguese surfer to join the elite level. Of course Vasco Ribeiro's name comes to mind instantly in the list of qualifying hopefuls. The former World Junior Champion, Ribeiro has since then been slowly building a strong reputation on the QS.
The powerful regular foot from down the coast in Cascais, finished his 2018 effort just a few heats shy of making the cut, with a 23rd spot on the Qualifying Series. He collected big results in Japan, South Africa, Portugal and Hawaii but was basically missing that one major finish to bump up inside the Top 10.
"I don't want to leave everything until the end like last year," Ribeiro said. "I had some really nice comps but couldn't really back them up with some points and I made a few mistakes along the year. This time I want to start stronger and keep a rhythm, I've built some experience from four years on the QS and now it's a matter of putting together a consistent campaign."
Ribeiro had the tough job of setting the judges scale in the very first heat of the day but he negotiated the tricky lineup nicely to post two good scores and advance in first into Round 5.
Morais on the other hand, waited all day to compete and wrapped up the show in the very last heat, advancing in second by the smallest of margins in a nail biter of a heat. 2019 hasn't been kind to the Portuguese superstar so far, with poor results in the first three major qualifying events in Australia, but Morais is ready to turn the tide here in Santa Cruz and Caparica next week.
"Well the truth is I've never had a good start in Australia so I'm not too concerned about it," he admitted. "I love going there every year but it just never seems to happen for me there. That's fine, I'm super stoked to be here now and surf at home, I'm hoping I can get on a roll and finally get to the final in this one!"
Top Seeds Suffer Early Eliminations in Round 4
Theo Fresia. - WSL
First it was Marcos Correa and Theo Fresia taking out the recent winner in Peru Gatien Delahaye, then Luel Felipe and Vitor Mendes teaming up to eliminate former CT athlete Ethan Ewing, then Renan Peres relegating Reo Inaba to last place.
It was a tough day for a few of the event's top seeds who couldn't quite get in tune with the conditions when other surfers who already surfed a couple of heats earlier this week just continued to find gems in a rough lineup.
For Luel Felipe all lights went green in his opening heat of the event. The Brazilian who has been a consistent threat on the QS for almost ten years now, continues to chase his dream despite the difficulties of traveling on a budget.
"It's pretty hard out there," Luel Felipe said. "I didn't know what my scores were and was just trying to get more waves and better surf them. Unfortunately I couldn't do the Australia leg because I don't have sponsors helping me out this year but thankfully I'm here with the support from a Brazilian friend who lives here. I want to make the QS6,000 and 10,000 this year and this was a good leg to build up points and hopefully win a little bit of money too."
Alonso Correa also suffered a blow in his qualifying bid in Santa Cruz today. On the other hand, form Frenchmen Paul Cesar Distinguin, Timothee Bisso, Thomas Debierre made it through as well as powerhouses Ramzi Boukhiam, Alex Ribeiro, Jorgann Couzinet and Vicente Romero among others.
Event officials will be back at 8:30 a.m Friday to re-assess conditions and potentially launch the fourth day of competition at the Pro Santa Cruz.
Watch the Pro Santa Cruz pres. by Noah Surf House LIVE on the WSL platforms from April 8-13, and check out daily recaps, pictures, videos and more right here.
Pro Santa Cruz Continues with Top Seeds Joining the Show
Nicolas Leroy
The QS3,000 Pro Santa Cruz pres. by Noah Surf House continued for a third day of action in which the event's highest seeded surfers entered the show.
Waves remained quite difficult to tame and not all surfers managed to pick the right rides as the fourth round of competition unfolded and delivered numerous upsets among the biggest names on the QS.
Portuguese Stars Launch Qualifying Campaign on Home Soil
With Frederico Morais falling off the Championship Tour at the end of last season, the race is ON for the next Portuguese surfer to join the elite level. Of course Vasco Ribeiro's name comes to mind instantly in the list of qualifying hopefuls. The former World Junior Champion, Ribeiro has since then been slowly building a strong reputation on the QS.
The powerful regular foot from down the coast in Cascais, finished his 2018 effort just a few heats shy of making the cut, with a 23rd spot on the Qualifying Series. He collected big results in Japan, South Africa, Portugal and Hawaii but was basically missing that one major finish to bump up inside the Top 10.
"I don't want to leave everything until the end like last year," Ribeiro said. "I had some really nice comps but couldn't really back them up with some points and I made a few mistakes along the year. This time I want to start stronger and keep a rhythm, I've built some experience from four years on the QS and now it's a matter of putting together a consistent campaign."
Ribeiro had the tough job of setting the judges scale in the very first heat of the day but he negotiated the tricky lineup nicely to post two good scores and advance in first into Round 5.
Morais on the other hand, waited all day to compete and wrapped up the show in the very last heat, advancing in second by the smallest of margins in a nail biter of a heat. 2019 hasn't been kind to the Portuguese superstar so far, with poor results in the first three major qualifying events in Australia, but Morais is ready to turn the tide here in Santa Cruz and Caparica next week.
"Well the truth is I've never had a good start in Australia so I'm not too concerned about it," he admitted. "I love going there every year but it just never seems to happen for me there. That's fine, I'm super stoked to be here now and surf at home, I'm hoping I can get on a roll and finally get to the final in this one!"
Top Seeds Suffer Early Eliminations in Round 4
First it was Marcos Correa and Theo Fresia taking out the recent winner in Peru Gatien Delahaye, then Luel Felipe and Vitor Mendes teaming up to eliminate former CT athlete Ethan Ewing, then Renan Peres relegating Reo Inaba to last place.
It was a tough day for a few of the event's top seeds who couldn't quite get in tune with the conditions when other surfers who already surfed a couple of heats earlier this week just continued to find gems in a rough lineup.
For Luel Felipe all lights went green in his opening heat of the event. The Brazilian who has been a consistent threat on the QS for almost ten years now, continues to chase his dream despite the difficulties of traveling on a budget.
"It's pretty hard out there," Luel Felipe said. "I didn't know what my scores were and was just trying to get more waves and better surf them. Unfortunately I couldn't do the Australia leg because I don't have sponsors helping me out this year but thankfully I'm here with the support from a Brazilian friend who lives here. I want to make the QS6,000 and 10,000 this year and this was a good leg to build up points and hopefully win a little bit of money too."
Alonso Correa also suffered a blow in his qualifying bid in Santa Cruz today. On the other hand, form Frenchmen Paul Cesar Distinguin, Timothee Bisso, Thomas Debierre made it through as well as powerhouses Ramzi Boukhiam, Alex Ribeiro, Jorgann Couzinet and Vicente Romero among others.
Event officials will be back at 8:30 a.m Friday to re-assess conditions and potentially launch the fourth day of competition at the Pro Santa Cruz.
Watch the Pro Santa Cruz pres. by Noah Surf House LIVE on the WSL platforms from April 8-13, and check out daily recaps, pictures, videos and more right here.
Luel Felipe
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