The second to last event on this year’s World Tour, the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro, got off to a great start today in lightly textured head high to overhead surf. With 13 World Tour surfers skipping out of this event, the 32 remaining top 45 surfers were joined by a stunning total of 16 wild cards and replacement surfers. In this late stage event, where several of the back-of-packers, with their careers on the line, are counting on big heat wins to lock in a seat on next year’s World Tour, wild cards and replacement surfers may just show them an early exit and relegate them to next year’s WQS. Round 1 winners advancing directly to Round 3 were Taylor Knox (USA), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Kai Otton (AUS), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Mikael Picon (FRA), Taj Burrow (AUS), Bede Durbidge (AUS), Mick Campbell (AUS), Leonardo Neves (BRA), Daniel Ross (AUS), Aritz Aranburu (EUK), and Ben Dunn (AUS). Also winning their Round 1 heats were wildcards/replacement surfers, Hizunome Bettero (BRA), who won over World Tour surfer Travis Logie (ZAF) and the no-show, Chris Ward (USA); Bernardo Miranda (BRA), who topped World Tour surfers, Dayyan Neve (AUS) and Jihad Khodr (BRA); Marco Polo (BRA), who took down World Tour surfers, Royden Bryson (ZAF) and Kieren Perrow (AUS); and Marcio Farney (BRA), who sent World Tour surfers, Luke Stedman (AUS) and Heitor Alves (BRA) to the loser’s round. One of the standout performances today, and most amazing heats to watch was Jordy Smith’s. He dominated the heat with tight turns and big reverse aerials, earning a 17.17 out of 20 points, before foolishly getting back to back interference calls that ultimately left him with a zero point score. This turned one of Jordy’s brightest moments of 2008 into one of his worst. He and the other Round 1 runner-ups will have their second chance at advancing when competition resumes this morning. Tune in to the event website for heat sheets and all the live action.
http://wctaovivo.globoesporte.globo.com/?rLingua=gb
Today’s Round 2 heat lineup:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Carybean Heleodoro (BRA)
Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 3: Luke Stedman (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 4: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Jano Belo (BRA)
Heat 5: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Peterson Rosa (BRA)
Heat 6: Chris Ward (USA) vs. Gustavo Fernandes (BRA)
Heat 7: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Tanio Barreto (BRA)
Heat 8: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Fabio Gouveia (BRA)
Heat 9: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Pedro Henrique (BRA)
Heat 10: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. William Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Simao Romao (BRA)
Heat 12: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Bruno Santos (BRA)
Heat 13: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Ricky Basnett (ZAF)
Heat 14: Jay Thompson (AUS) vs. Jihad Khodr (BRA)
Heat 15: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 16: Royden Bryson (ZAF) vs. Ben Bourgeois (USA)
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