Brazilian Adriano de Souza wins Rip Curl Super Series

Brazilian Adriano de Souza confirmed why he is the best surfer on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) this year by winning the first ever Rip Curl Super Series pro contest in dominating fashion in Seignosse, France.

Photo: ASPWorldTour/Karen

The 18-year-old has surfed at an exceptional level all week and today defeated fellow countryman Odirlei Coutinho to claim the prestigious title and US$20,000 first place cheque.

De Souza has had an unbelievable season and sits well ahead of his competition atop the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) WQS Ratings. With the 3000 points from this event taking his season total to 13128, it looks certain the world will see the young superstar on the World Championship Tour (WCT) in 2006.

The Brazilian finalists were two of 144 international surfers to compete in the Super Series at the beach break of Les Bourdaines in Seignosse since competition started last Monday. But after six days of contest surfing and the best waves of Europe's summer season, the spotlight was well and truly fixed on the duo when the final siren sounded.

De Souza's final performance today was testament to his exceptional talents and a fitting end to this season's biggest WQS contest. He controlled the 35-minute final from the starting seconds, posting a stellar 8.83 points (out of 10) on his very first wave. Several minutes later he all but sealed the win when he scored a near-perfect 9.93 ride to total 18.76 points for the heat. The two-wave combined heat score was the highest of the event.

For Coutinho, aged 26, his second place finish at this week's event is his most important result of the year. The Super Series offers more qualifying points and more prize money than any other contest on the tour, and Coutinho's result has moved him to 29th on the ratings.

Although de Souza was somewhat untouchable all event, Australian Adrian Buchan (rated 3rd on the WQS) was one competitor who looked capable of overcoming the Brazilian. The 22-year-old NSW surfer was a standout all week, posting several commanding wins in his charge to the finals. His run came to an end in semi-final 1 though, losing to the 2003 World Pro Junior Champion 17.57 points to 12.47.

WCT surfer Paulo Moura (BRZ) was the other semi-finalist, using his experience to overcome yesterday's 'Perfect 10 man' Rodrigo Dornelles* (BRZ) in quarter-final 4 this morning.

All of the quarter-finals were held today, USA surfer Bobby Martinez and Australians Daniel Ross and Jay Thompson joining Dornelles on the =5th place elimination list. Europe's highest placed competitor was local Capbreton surfer Mikael Picon. Unfortunately for his home crowd, the 26-year-old was eliminated by Buchan in Heat 2 of round 5 yesterday. His =9th place still earned him 1500 points and moved him from 12th to 10th in the WQS ratings.

The WQS now shifts to Ericeira, Portugal for a 6 star event that starts there on August 29.

Rip Curl Pro Super Series Final Results

Final: Adriano de Souza (BRZ) 18.76 points def. Odirlei Coutinho (BRZ) 9.43 points

Semi-Final #1: Adriano de Souza (BRZ) 17.57 points def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.47 points

Semi-Final #2: Odirlei Coutinho (BRZ) 15.50 points def. Paulo Moura (BRZ) 6.76 points

* Brazilian Rodrigo Dornelles scored the Rip Curl Super Series' only 10-point scoring wave during competition yesterday. Dornelles maneuvered his way through the event's longest tube ride, earning perfect 10 scores from all ASP judges.

Rip Curl will be running the final day of the Rip Curl Pro in Hossegor at Les Bourdaines tomorrow, starting at 12pm and hosting a US$3000 Expression Session. Rip Curl's live webcast on ripcurl.com will be broadcasting the action right around the world.

Program:

Sunday 28 August: Expression Session
1 qualifying round (4 heats of 8 surfers)
1 super  final ( 8 finalists)

The first entrants:
        David Weare (South Africa)
        Royden Bryson (South Africa)
        Pancho Sullivan (Hawaii)
        Marcello Trekinho (Brasil)
        Dean Randazzo (
        Steve Clemnets (Australia)
        Boris Letexier (France)
        Wilson Nora (Brasil)
        Danilo Costa (Brasil)
        Bruno Santos (Brasil)
        Adriano De Souza (Brasil)
        Pedro Enrique (Brasil)...

Source: Global Surf News

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