Gabriel Medina was on fire on day three of the Cascais Billabong Pro.
PRAIA DE CARCAVELOS, Cascais/Portugal (Wednesday, October 23, 2013) - The ASP Prime Cascais Billabong Pro ran another full day of competition to complete the first round and eleven heats of the second in difficult 3-5 foot waves at Carcavelos.
The sixth of eight ASP Prime events in 2013, the Cascais Billabong Pro resumed this morning in improved conditions before strong onshore winds cam into play. With important ranking points on offer, this event plays a vital role in the qualification campaigns towards next year’s Elite Top 34.
Gabriel Medina (BRA) 19, stepped up his game after a rather discrete start in this event, pulling massive aerials out of his bag of tricks to post two 9 point scores and net the highest heat total of the event so far, a near-perfect 18.94 out of 20.
“I feel good, I had some good and bad results this year and I’m just trying my best at every event,” Medina said. “I’m having fun here in Portugal, but I always want to win when I enter an event.”
The most publicized Brazilian out of a new up-and-coming generation of surfing talent, Medina leads the pack into the Cascais Billabong Pro and will be a force to be reckoned with when competition recommences with the no-loser round of 24.
“I feel honored to be a part of this new group of surfers coming up,” Medina continued. “This new generation has been doing so good, this is the best time for us and I’m enjoying every minute of it. This next round is really important and super fun to surf so I’m excited and I hope the waves improve.”
Carlos Munoz (CRI) 20, caused the upset of the day, eliminating Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 25, and Filipe Toledo (BRA) 18 in the second round. Munoz displayed a perfect mix of aerial manoevers including a very technical kerrupt flip with some massive backside gouges to take the win.
“I’m really stoked, I’ve been trying to make heats on the Qualifying Series and I finally made two in a row,” Munoz said. “I got two good waves at the start and stayed focus, paddled all the time. That heat was really hard with three WCT guys, I always watch them surf and to be there with them is amazing, let alone beat them.”
Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 33, former Quarterfinalist of the Prime event in Margaret River and current World No.56, was in sizzling form today in Carcavelos. The Canarian caught a big righthander and performed two committed turns to belt an incredible 9.33 out of 10, the second highest score of the event so far. Gonzalez advanced into the next round, joined by other form surfer Conner Coffin (USA) 20.
“I had a good left just before and fell on the second backside turn, so when that right came I thought ‘please don’t fall again’,” Gonzalez admitted. “When I came down on that last turn, my backfoot went off and the white water somehow helped me recover! I struggled to find a back-up but luckily I got one at the end there and got first place.”
Jeremy Flores (FRA), 25, current World No. 18, was in a dominant form today posting a solid heat win to advance into the round of 48. Flores started the day with a convincing performance on his backhand, tagging two huge turns on a set wave to score an excellent 8.00 point ride and advance alongside Jean Da Silva (BRA) 28.
“I’m happy to make that heat, it was hard but I got a couple good waves,” Flores stated. “I haven’t had the best season this year, I feel like I’m only starting to get a little better, and I really want to finish this season strong and start off 2014 with a clean slate.”
The young Frenchman will surf in the remaining heat of the second round when the event recommences, as competition was called off before the round could be completed.
Surfers and event officials will reconvene at 10am tomorrow to re-assess conditions. Official event forecaster, Magicseaweed calls for a decreased swell and strong onshore winds making conditions difficult at Carcavelos.
Up first when competition recommences will be Jeremy Flores (FRA), Dion Atkinson (AUS), Raoni Monteiro (BRA) and Krystian Kymerson (BRA).
The ASP Prime Cascais Pro is scheduled from October 21-27, 2013 in Cascais, Portugal. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases and LIVE webcast, log on to aspeurope.com/cascais.
The Cascais Pro is supported by the Cascais City Council, Turismo de Portugal, Moche, EDP, Buondi, Allianz, Jogos, Mini, Brisa, Hertz, Comboios de Portugal, TakeOFF, RTP, Cidade FM, FuelTV, Go-S.TV, Jornal i, Surf Onfire, Magicseaweed, Surf Europe and BeachCam among others.
UPCOMING CASCAIS BILLABONG PRO ROUND OF 24 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Mitch Crews (AUS), Willian Cardoso (BRA), Bede Durbidge (AUS) Heat 2: Carlos Munoz (CRI), Charles Martin (GLP), Gabriel Medina (BRA) Heat 3: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Damien Hobgood (USA), Maxime Huscenot (FRA) Heat 4: Jay Thompson (AUS), Conner Coffin (USA), C.J Hobgood (USA) Heat 5: Kiron Jabour (HAW), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA) Heat 6: Alejo Muniz (BRA), Granger Larsen (HAW), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) Heat 7: Travis Logie (ZAF), TBD, Adam Melling (AUS) Heat 8: TBD, Tanner Gudauskas (USA), Thiago Camarao (BRA)
REMAINING CASCAIS BILLABONG PRO ROUND OF 48 MATCH-UP:
Heat 12: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Dion Atkinson (AUS), Raoni Monteiro (BRA), Krystian Kymerson (BRA)
CASCAIS BILLABONG PRO ROUND OF 48 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Mitch Crews (AUS) 13.50, Charles Martin (GLP) 7.84, Nic Von Rupp (PRT) 7.56, Evan Geiselman (USA) 6.86 Heat 2: Carlos Munoz (CRI) 14.33, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 11.94, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 10.74, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 8.43 Heat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 18.94, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.63, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 11.50, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 6.17 Heat 4: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 15.06, Conner Coffin (USA) 14.67, Davey Cathels (AUS) 14.30, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 8.57 Heat 5: Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 12.17, C.J Hobgood (USA) 11.37, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 11.06, Marlon Lipke (PRT) 7.74 Heat 6: Jay Thompson (AUS) 11.07, Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.17, Cory Arrambide (USA) 8.90, Tomas Fernandes (PRT) 4.77 Heat 7: Kiron Jabour (HAW) 11.76, Granger Larsen (HAW) 11.00, Nathan Yeomans (USA) 8.60, Torrey Meister (HAW) 8.33 Heat 8: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.00, Wade Carmichael (AUS) 10.83, Nathan Hedge (AUS) 10.37, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 7.90 Heat 9: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 15.40, Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.94, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 13.60, Frederico Morais (PRT) 11.67 Heat 10: Travis Logie (ZAF) 14.93, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 10.90, Perth Standlick (AUS) 7.93, Marco Fernandez (BRA) 7.70 Heat 11: Adam Melling (AUS) 14.23, Thiago Camarao (BRA) 14.16, Jean Da Silva (BRA) 10.20, Messias Felix (BRA) 8.86
CASCAIS BILLABONG PRO ROUND OF 96 RESULTS:
Heat 21: Adam Melling (AUS) 10.00, Krystian Kymerson (BRA) 9.56, Kaito Ohashi (JPN) 7.80, Brian Toth (PRI) 5.57 Heat 22: Thiago Camarao (BRA) 12.26, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 11.27, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 9.86, Michael Dunphy (USA) 9.70 Heat 23: Dion Atkinson (AUS) 14.23, Messias Felix (BRA) 11.43, Santiago Muniz (ARG) 10.74, Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 8.83 Heat 24: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.67, Jean Da Silva (BRA) 11.26, Dillon Perillo (USA) 9.80, Dusty Payne (HAW) 6.96
