| Heitor Alves takes the San Miguel Pro Zarautz |
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| Sunday, 05 September 2010 19:55 |
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Heitor Alves (BRA) was unstoppable on his way to claim the ASP 6-Star San Miguel Pro Zarautz presented by Euskaltel title over Tim Boal (FRA) in a well fought 35-minute battle. Having taken down an inform Gabriel Medina (BRA) in the semis, Alves was on a roll and proved unbeatable despite a last ditched effort by Boal to take the victory. Clean lines in the 3ft (1m) range were on offer however event officials were forced to place the event on hold during the high tide because of infrequent set waves. With clear skies and fantastic beach weather, the shore line and esplanade were once again packed. The huge crowd revelled in the magnificent displays of surfing put on by all the guys on this last day of competition. Heitor Alves (BRA) took the lead in the final and never let it go despite all the efforts by Boal to catch up. Surfing strongly on his backhand on the long rights with the perfect mixture of power surfing blended with innovative manoeuvres, Alves had to watch on as Boal’s last wave fell short of the desired score by the narrowest of margins. “I feel so good,” said an emotional Alves. “I can’t believe that I have won this contest, I am so happy. At this contest I was looking for the best result possible here and it has happened.” Alves started to fire up with his win in the semis. With under a minute left, without priority, having trailed during the entire heat and needing a 9.07, Alves smashed a right from start to finish in the tricky conditions. Something no one else had been able to achieve. Nailing a 9.43, Alves was on a roll. “For me to beat Gabriel (Medina) for me it was like another final,” commented Alves on his semi-final win. “He is surfing incredibly and it was a very tough heat with the small waves in that semi. Tim as well surfed very well and I just want to say thanks to everyone who made this contest possible.” As always a very gracious Tim Boal accepted his runner-up placing like the true sportsman that he is and felt that his rhythm during the final was not happening as he explains. “It was hard but at least the scores were close at the end and I didn’t get ‘comboed’ which I thought might happen at the start because I wasn’t really getting anything. It was hard to figure out the waves out there, I mean the first one or second one of the set, so it was always hard. Also I wasn’t kind of in the rhythm with priority but I got that last one which was pretty close. So everything is good, I’m happy with the result” With a 3rd placing last week and today’s 2nd, Boal has also found some late season form and but hope to change things for next year as he states. “I usually get moving around September, so I’ll try and do it earlier next year. (laughs)” Gabriel Medina (BRA) and William Cardoso (BRA) finished equal third in the San Miguel Pro Zarautz presented by Euskaltel. Medina was brilliant once again despite falling in the semis. Cardoso chalked up another solid result on the ASP Europe summer leg of events. Trailing from the start, Cardoso never threw in the towel in his attempt to overtake Tim Boal. “It was difficult out there,” began Cardoso. “The waves were coming in but it was really difficult. Tim (Boal) caught the better waves and surfed really well. It has been a great contest with two days of perfect waves and I did well on those days and today as well I did my best to try and make it an all Brazilian final but it was not possible.” Getting through his quarter-final clash in the last 10 seconds with an excellent 8.00 ride, Cardoso was content with his overall result and knows that the difference between winning and losing is very fine. “I was lucky in the quarters when I got that 8 on my last wave and I think that for me it was a present to get me into the semis. I wanted to surf on my small-wave board but it’s in California so I have missed it in the last couple of events. I think that it could have made the difference in the waves today.” Finishing equal 5th and adding another excellent result to his rankings tally, Marc Lacomare (FRA) has once again jumped ahead in the European Men’s Series rankings by over 2000 points from his nearest rival. “I try not to think about it and just take it contest by contest. I am really happy with the result for sure, I made some hard heats this week so it has been a good contest for me but at the same time it’s sad to end up like that.” Losing out against Gabriel Medina (BRA) in the quarters, Lacomare had mixed feeling especially after having to suffer a wave starved heat. “Right now I feel good but at the same time I had a shocker, probably the worst heat of my life. No sets came and I waited for 20 minutes so I am a bit sad but there was nothing I could do about it. I really wanted a chance to beat him (Medina) because he is such an amazing surfer and to be in a heat with him is great. It is sad we didn’t get the conditions.” Brent Dorrington (AUS) took out the Nike 6.0 ‘Cash for Tricks’ specialty event with Gabriel Medina (BRA), runner-up and Pedro Henrique (BRA) in third place. A shocked Dorrington, who initially was not in the event, got in thanks to an empty space in the draw and made the most of his opportunity. “I am actually quite surprised actually. Thanks to Andy (Higgins, ‘Cash for Tricks’ event director) I got a run in the event and just stoked to win it. It is a shame it is not a little bit bigger but there are some waves and I had a good time out there. The waves have a bit of push, so once you got going you were right. I’m stoked and I’ll be back next year for sure.” For all results, videos, daily highlights, photos and news log-on to www.aspeurope.com San Miguel Pro Zarautz presented by Euskaltel Final Result San Miguel Pro Zarautz presented by Euskaltel Semi-Final Results San Miguel Pro Zarautz presented by Euskaltel Quarter-Final Results San Miguel Pro Zarautz presented by Euskaltel Round 5 Results
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