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Opening Round Standouts Tackle Top Seeds at Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan
Author: ASP World Tour
Kalani Robb (HAW), 34, notched the highest single-wave score of Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan competition.
MAZATLAN, Sinaloa / Mexico (Thursday, June 2, 2011) – The ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan returned to Playa Camaron for the second consecutive day and saw the event’s top seeds sink their teeth into the two-to-four foot surf on offer while narrowing the field down to 32.
The Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan has attracted a variety of talent to Mexico’s original surf city, with several of Latin America’s finest tacking ASP World Tour veterans and an equally impressive list of global up-and-comers for the crucial points on offer towards their ASP World Ranking.
Kalani Robb (HAW), 34, who earned some of the event’s top scores in yesterday’s competition, returned to form today to earn the event’s first excellent ride of 8.17 out of 10. Robb began the wave with an explosive first turn and followed through with polished forehand rail-work to secure his Round of 64 heat win.
“It’s really fun out there actually,” Robb said. “I’ve been watching it all day and it’s a long wave, but it’s really complicated because there is a lot of chop on the waves and it’s really slow. I surfed so hard I ripped my tail pad off of my board.”
Robb, who is a former standout on the ASP Dream Tour, admitted that his successful performance at the Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan was a confidence booster for his surfing after several years away from competition.
“I’m really stoked, I haven’t surfed a contest in a long time and it feels good to get back out there and mix it up with the boys,” Robb said. “It makes you try hard when you’re surfing. I’ve been lazy and wondering if I still have what it takes so it feels good.”
Dylan Goodale (HAW), 19, got the best of a series of tough back-and-forth exchanges while posting the highest heat total of Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan competition, 13.70 out of 20, to advance into the Round of 32.
“It was a hard heat, we were all going back and forth,” Goodale said. “We all started at the point accept for the Venezuelan kid (Francisco Bellorin) and there weren’t many waves. Francisco started strong and I knew I had to do something, but it’s hard out there to find one that stands up.”
Fisher Heverly (Emerald Isle, NC), 20, took a come-from-behind victory in the final seconds of his heat with a powerful forehand repertoire that was rewarded with a 7.33 (out of 10) to see the young East Coaster advance through to the Round of 32.
“It’s tough out here, but luckily I got the wave of the heat at the end,” Heverly said. “That one got me through.”
Heverly, who is competing in his final year on the ASP North America Pro Junior Series, is another up-and-comer out to capitalize on the points on offer at the Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan to build his seed on the ASP World Ranking.
“I’ve been to Mexico twice, but never to Mazatlan, but I love it here in Mexico,” Heverly said. “This is my last year as a junior so it’s nice to get some points. It’s a fun contest with good waves and I’m looking to go to Puerto (Escondido) too.”
Manuel Selman (CHL), 22, was another goofy-footer to take a commanding win in the Round of 64 and the talented Chilean looked confident in Playa Camaron’s tricky conditions.
“I got here a couple of days ago and I think everyone felt uncomfortable out here, but I’ve been getting the hang of it,” Selman said. “The wave is really tricky, so I thought I’d try and start with the medium ones because those are the ones with a little bit of lip that let you surf more vertical than the bigger sets. I’m just really stoked to make it through with those two waves.”
Selman is one of many up-and-coming Latino competitors out to capitalize on the additional ASP events emerging in Latin America to build his ASP World Ranking.
“It’s great not to have to travel so far to compete,” Selman said. “Last year I had to fly to Australia and this year I have the Brazil contests, Chile, El Salvador and Mexico. It feels good to surf at home, because all of Latin America feels home to all of us Latinos.”
To put an exclamation point on the day, the final heat of the Round of 64 witnessed an exciting flurry of exchanges which saw several of the day’s highest heat-totals issued by each of the competitors. Mexican Jose Trujillo (MEX), 24, took out top honors with the win and a 13.40 heat total, while Brad Ettinger (Huntington Beach, CA), 27, barely held on to second position with 11.93 points to edge out Marcelo Rodriguez (ARG), 25, and Balaram Stack (Point Lookout, NY), 19.
Event organizers at the Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan will reconvene tomorrow morning for a possible Round of 32 start at 8am local time. To watch the event LIVE log on to http://www.quiksilver.com/mazatlan
For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com or www.aspnorthamerica.org
Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan Round of 64 Results: Heat 1: Manuel Selman (CHL) 12.43, Ian Crane (USA) 6.60, Keetin Devine (USA) 6.40, Aurelio Prieto (ECU) 4.34 Heat 2: Matt Pagan (USA) 12.37, Shane Beschen (USA) 9.30, Kalani David (HAW) 7.47, Britton Galland (UAS) 5.10 Heat 3: Taylor Thorne (USA) 11.13, Nils Schweizer (USA) 9.44, Chase Wilson (USA) 8.50, Robert Morales (MEX) 6.47 Heat 4: Leigh Sedley (AUS) 13.50, Caue Wood (BRA) 9.97, Christian Corzo (MEX) 9.16, Jason Harris (USA) 6.73 Heat 5: Tanner Hendrickson (HAW) 10.57, Tyler Newton (HAW) 10.33, Carlos Munoz (CRI) 9.70, Martin Passeri (ARG) 6.37 Heat 6: Fisher Heverly (USA) 12.16, Nicholas Squires (AUS) 10.73, Dane Anderson (USA) 10.50, Jared Thorne (USA) 7.37 Heat 7: Roy Powers (HAW) 10.63, Evan Thompson (USA) 8.14, Liam McNamara (HAW) 5.96, David Rutherford (MEX) 2.70 Heat 8: Diego Cadena (MEX) 9.50, Brian Toth (PRI) 9.10,Diego Naranjo (CRI) 8.24, Jensen Callaway (USA) 5.10 Heat 9: Jeremy Johnston (USA) 9.90, Alex Smith (HAW) 9.83, Christian Saenz (USA) 7.94, Adan Hernandez (MEX) 5.40 Heat 10: Mitchel Coleborn (AUS) 10.13, Angelo Lozano (MEX) 7.90, Love Hodel (HAW) 6.13, Derrick Disney (USA) 5.47 Heat 11: Cory Arrambide (USA) 10.80, Jesse Merle-Jones (HAW) 9.83, No Mar McGonagle (CRI) 6.36, Landon McNamara (HAW) 4.30 Heat 12: Kalani Robb (HAW) 12.97, Dylan Southworth (MEX) 10.10, Ricky Whitlock (USA) 9.93, Hunter Lysaught (USA) 6.67 Heat 13: Sean Moody (HAW) 9.87, Michael Dunphy (USA) 9.87, Nathan Behl (USA) 8.83, David Chiquete (MEX) 4.53 Heat 14: Dylan Goodale (HAW) 13.70, Chris Tucker (USA) 11.00, Francisco Bellorin (VEN) 10.63, Anthony Petruso (USA) 6.76 Heat 15: Gabriel Villaran (PER) 11.57, Makai McNamara (HAW) 8.34, Keto Burns (USA) 7.47, Kyle Knox (USA) 6.57 Heat 16: Jose Trujillo (MEX) 13.40, Brad Ettinger (USA) 11.93, Marcelo Rodriguez (ARG) 11.36, Balaram Stack (USA) 11.93
Quiksilver Clasico Mazatlan Round of 96 Results: Heat 13: Nathan Behl (USA) 11.17, Chris Tucker (USA) 10.20, Eric McHenry (USA) 9.30, Eddie Elles (USA) 6.94 Heat 14: Dylan Goodale (HAW) 8.17, David Chiquete (MEX) 6.07, Chris Foster (HAW) 5.37, Cheyne Willis (HAW) 3.00 Heat 15: Keto Burns (USA) 8.50, Jose Trujillo (MEX) 7.27, Johnny Noris (USA) 6.70, Chris Rodriguez (USA) 4.33 Heat 16: Marcelo Rodriguez (ARG) 12.23, Kyle Knox (USA) 9.23, Travis Southworth (MEX) 7.23, Christian Ramirez (USA) 7.13