| Opening round of the Drop-Knee World Tour kicks-off in the 2009 Sintra Portugal Pro |
| Thursday, 27 August 2009 14:43 |
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The Sintra Portugal Pro hit top gear today as the 4th & 5th round of the Men’s division along with the opening round of the Drop-knee World Tour (DKWT). The surf was once again pumping as Praia Grande’ served up some meaty 4 footers providing the perfect canvas for competitors to draw some sweet lines on. In round 4 the best performer was Alex Uranga (Spain) who once again dazzled the crowd with a strong combination of moves. Alex has turned a lot of heads here on E5’09 as he blitzes his way through this 5 event European leg. Round 5 saw some of the sports biggest names hit the water. Former World Champion Andrea Botha (Sth Africa) was blowing away his opponents with nice positioning in the line-up to dominate the best waves. His experience shone through and stamped himself as a real contender. Australian riders Brad Hughes and Mitch Rawlins also rattled a few cages with precise in-the-pocket manoeuvres that looked they came straight out of the rulebook. These guys know how to surf to the criteria and will be hard to stop with this much swell around. “ I was in the water and heard them call my name” said Rawlins. “ I could have missed my heat” he added. Local Portuguese riders Silvano Lorenco & Jamie Jesus also looked comfortable in the clean 1.5 mtr shifty peaks and will lead the pack into tomorrows 6th round. The first event on the 2009 DKWT got off to a flying start when current World Champion Dave Hubbard (Hawaii) posted a 10 point ride on his first wave and then backed it up with a 7.5 to be the standout performer of the day. Dave is doing some of the best surfing of his career right now after coming off a second in Chile at the previous Grand Slam and looks fit and relaxed. “Yeh, I’m feelin’ pretty good” said the casual Hawaiian. Competition resumes tomorrow morning at 9am local time with the quarter finals of the DK followed by R6 and the Women’s quarters. The big guns will fire up on Friday with the IBA Top 16 scheduled to surf and if someone in the top five wins here they will set themselves up for a potential World title as we enter the “Home-straight” on the World Tour. Both Guilherme Tamega (Brazil) and Mike Stewart (Hawaii) were seen inspecting the competition arena today and both looked fit, sharp and focused. “ I was a bit run down after such a long campaign through South America” said Mike Stewart. “ I took a few days off and now I am feeling fresh and 100% ready for the challenge”. “Some of the heats are shaping up as great battles and looking down the draw it could get interesting” . Mike is pushing towards a potential 10th World Title in his mid-forties and would re-write the record books if he succeeds. You can watch all the action live via the webcast at www.ibaworldtour.com/live or at the official event website www.portugalbodyboard.com
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