The World Championship Tours have packed up and moved on from Rio, but one major men’s Prime event is still stationed in Brazil, with lots of big names going after the big points and cash available. The Quiksilver Saquarema Prime
The World Championship Tours have packed up and moved on from Rio, but one major men’s Prime event is still stationed in Brazil, with lots of big names going after the big points and cash available. The Quiksilver Saquarema Prime got underway Tuesday, completing 17 of the 24 first-round heats in the 96-surfer field. The winner will take a major step forward in qualification for the 2015 world tour, as well as a $40,000 top prize.
Three of the 96 are Kauai surfers, with WCT competitor Sebastian Zietz hanging around Rio for the event, as well as Gavin Gillette and Evan Valiere. Gillette was the only one to have his heat run Tuesday but the hard-charging surfer from Kilauea was unable to advance into the second round. There were two talented competitors from the Aloha State in the heat, both Gillette and Maui’s Granger Larsen eliminated at the hands of Argentina’s Santiago Muniz in first and Costa Rica’s Carlos Munoz in second. Munoz had a two-wave total of 10.73 with Larsen (10.64) and Gillette (10.27) not far behind. Gillette would have needed a 5.14 to back up his 5.60 to advance, but his result gives him 380 qualification points and $750 in prize money.
Valiere, one of the standouts during 2013’s final Hawaii leg and always a dangerous opponent in any event he enters, will paddle out with Australians Mitch Crews and Stu Kennedy, as well as New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand. A new father, a Hanalei surf instructor and the organizer of the annual Na Pali Race, Valiere took third at the 2013 Hawaii Island Creations Qualifying Series event on Oahu and then took 13th place at the Reef Hawaiian Pro.
Zietz is coming off his best 2014 world tour result, having just reached the quarterfinals at the Billabong Rio Pro. He will be in the final opening-round heat, going up against France’s Joan Duru, Brazil’s Lucas Silveira and Argentina’s Leandro Usuna. Seabass is not the only big name from Hawaii who made the trip to Rio. Keanu Asing and Dusty Payne have already advanced into the second round. Kiron Jabour, Torrey Meister, Mason Ho and Ezekiel Lau are all still yet to compete in their opening heats.
The points and cash have attracted some world tour competitors prior to the next CT stop in Fiji. Filipe Toledo has advanced into round two, as have Jadson Andre, Patrick Gudauskas, Dion Atkinson, Tiago Pires, Adriano de Souza, Wiggolly Dantas and Jeremy Flores, among others. Toledo nailed the highest wave score of the first day, receiving an 8.77 in his heat win and backing it up with a 6.90 for a 15.67 total.
Defending champion Mitch Coleborn did not have the same type of luck he had in 2013. He was eliminated in the opening round by South Africa’s Beyrick De Vries and Brazilian Alex Ribeiro.
Action at Saquarema is scheduled to resume today, though Rio is seven hours ahead of Hawaii time. Event organizers are expected to make a call at 7:30 a.m. local time (12:30 a.m. Hawaii time). Valiere’s heat will be the third group in the water, while Zietz’s heat will be the seventh and final heat of the first round.
