Freestone Nears Perfection at Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans
- August 12, 2011
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- By Story/Photos - Association of Surfing Professionals
FISTRAL BEACH, Newquay – England (Friday, August 12, 2011) – The ASP 6-Star Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans witnessed a near perfect performance by current ASP Pro Junior World champion, Jack Freestone (Gold Coast, AUS) 19, who ignited in the fun 3-4ft peaks of Fistral beach to amass an impressive 19.60 out of 20 combined two-wave heat total. Round Four of competition was completed late this afternoon with Freestone leading the 16 surfers who remain in contention for this year’s Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans title.
Freestone put on one of the best heat displays seen in the entire 30 year history of the Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans when he took to the air with a series of aerials which contained a combination of grabs as well as lightening fast forehand snaps to post a total of four excellent scores, two of which were almost perfect 9.7s and a 9.9 out of 10.
“It was all pretty amazing. I was paddling out and I was seeing a lot of good waves with a lot of ramps to do airs so that was what I was going for. I noticed the tide coming in and I was a little bit worried because it looked like it was getting harder but in the end everything went my way.”
Freestone is one of several young guns including Kolohe Andino (USA) 17, and Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17, who have the world’s focus placed firmly on them and their performances. The added pressure of moving up to the ASP Star tour from the ASP Junior series is a massive step for any surfer wishing to make it to the elite ASP World Tour.
“It was a bit of a struggle at the start to find my feet moving from the Juniors to the Star Tour,” explained Freestone about the step up in category. “I am so glad that now in this event I am starting to get it together. Even though they (Andino and Medina) are younger than me, I look up to those guys because they are getting totals like what I just had in every heat. Even though I am older I am still learning from the younger guys.”
Flavio Nakagima (Sao Paulo, BRA) 23, on his first visit to Fistral beach, advanced through to the man-on-man round of competition with one of the standout performances of the event in both his heat appearances today. In what was the most spectacular heat of Round Three with all 4 surfers acquiring excellent scores, Nakagima pulled off a near perfect 9.43 out of 10 to jump into the lead and take the win.
“My heat was very hard and in the last 30 seconds I got the best wave of the competition, a 9.4 so I am so happy. I felt a lot of pressure out there with the other surfers in the heat who are all very good surfers. We all had excellent scores at the start and the game was on.”
Later in the afternoon, Nakagima backed up to finish runner-up behind an inform Mitch Crews (AUS) to claim his best result of the season with explosive on the rail smashes and high flying aerial assaults. The rookie Brazilian held on to make another last minute charge into the fifth round of competition.”
“There were not many waves in the heat but the ones that came through were very good quality. I was able to do some manoeuvres and my surfing felt good. I stayed calm and got a wave at the start and that helped me to get close to the leader. I heard I needed a big score and on that last wave I gave my all and it worked out for me.”
Jean Da Silva (BRA) 26, came out on top in one of the toughest encounters of the round with two excellent scoring waves both left and right to claim a combined heat total of 17.67 out of 20, which included a 9.00 scoring ride. Da Silva is one of the more experienced competitors on tour and has visited Newquay several times and knows the complexities of the Fistral beach set up.
“That was amazing for me and I am so stoked to make it. That heat was against such good surfers and I was lucky I got two really good waves right at the start of the heat. I was really insecure about which board to ride. It is a new board and I only got them here in Newquay yesterday. Everything was done in a big hurry but in the end I was stoked to make it.”
Da Silva struggled in his first up encounter yesterday and has been able to build his momentum as the event moves forward into the business end of competition with the man-on-man format.
“Yesterday the conditions were quite different and I was on another board and the swell was bigger with a lot of onshore winds. I didn’t know where to sit or surf well but today it all was on my side and I hope I can keep the rhythm of today.”
The ASP 3-Star Tuaca Longboard Pro and the ASP 6-Star Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro are programmed to crown this year’s champions tomorrow as well as the running of the Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans Round Five of competition. Europe’s best longboarders will battle it out in semi-finals of both divisions to continue through to the deciding finals.
Surfers competing in the Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans are out to gain valuable ranking points in their bid to climb the ASP World rankings and enter the elite Top 32 before the mid-year points cut off. European athletes are also building on their ASP European Men’s ranking as the main summer leg of events commences.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, The Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans is scheduled from August 9-14, 2011. For more information, and all upcoming results, photos, video highlights, press releases log-on to;
www.aspeurope.com
Upcoming Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans Round Five Matchups
Heat 1: Mitch Crews (AUS) Vs Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Heat 2: Flavio Nakagima (BRA) Vs Jack Freestone (AUS)
Heat 3: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) Vs Gabriel Villaran (PER)
Heat 4: Jesse Mendes (BRA) Jean Da Silva (BRA)
Heat 5: Romain Cloitre (FRA) Vs Tom Whitaker (AUS)
Heat 6: Adam Robertson (AUS) Vs Glen Hall (IRL)
Heat 7: Kolohe Andino (USA) Vs Royden Bryson (ZAF)
Heat 8: Perth Standlick (AUS) Vs Garret Parkes (AUS)
Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans Round Four Results
Heat 1: Mitch Crews (AUS) 15.30, Flavio Nakagima (BRA) 12.37, Evan Geiselman (USA) 11.83
Heat 2: Jack Freestone (AUS) 19.60, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 14.20, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 9.50
Heat 3: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 12.27, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 9.77, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 9.10
Heat 4: Jean Da Silva (BRA) 12.80, Gabriel Villaran (PER) 10.74, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 9.77
Heat 5: Romain Cloitre (FRA) 14.36, Adam Robertson (AUS) 12.97, Jano Belo (BRA)
Heat 6: Glen Hall (IRL) 13.93, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 11.63, Rudy Palmboom (ZAF) 7.43
Heat 7: Kolohe Andino (USA) 13.27, Perth Standlick (AUS) 10.77, William Cardoso (BRA) 10.66
Heat 8: Garret Parkes (AUS) 16.94, Royden Bryson (ZAF) 13.03, Heath Joske (AUS) 11.30
Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans Round Three Results
Heat 1: Mitch Crews (AUS) 15.77, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 12.26, Tiago Camarao (BRA) 9.82, Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 9.24
Heat 2: Flavio Nakagima (BRA) 17.60, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 15.80, Chris Friend (AUS) 14.70, Hodei Collazo (EUK) 11.74
Heat 3: Jack Freestone (AUS) 14.73, Evan Geiselman (USA) 13.20, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 8.23, Micah Lester (GBR) 8.07
Heat 4: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 17.23, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 14.27, Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 13.50, Kiron Jabour (HAW) 9.74
Heat 5: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 14.10, Gabriel Villaran (PER) 10.97, Jay Quinn (NZL) 9.20, Billy Stairmand (NZL) 8.45
Heat 6: Jean Da Silva (BRA) 17.67, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 16.44, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 10.87, Brandon Jackson (ZAF) 10.04
Heat 7: Adam Robertson (AUS) 14.13, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 11.40, Nathan Webster (AUS) 10.47, Russel Winter (GBR) 6.17
Heat 8: Romain Cloitre (FRA) 15.44, Glen Hall (IRL) 14.87, Joan Duru (FRA) 13.96, Ruda Carvalho (BRA) 10.43
Heat 9: Rudy Palmboom (ZAF) 12.90, Jano Belo (BRA) 9.60, Jayke Sharp (AUS) 9.03, Brent Savage (AUS) 8.70
Heat 10: Perth Standlick (AUS) 14.27, Royden Bryson (ZAF) 13.00, Granger Larsen (HAW) 9.40, Edouard Delpero (FRA) 8.66
Heat 11: Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.17, Heath Joske (AUS) 12.83, Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 12.57, James Wood (AUS) 6.16
Heat 12: Garret Parkes (AUS) 15.77, William Cardoso (BRA) 12.40, Alain Riou (PYF) 10.56, Matt Pagan (USA) 8.73
Remaining Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans Round Two Results
Heat 21: Kolohe Andino (USA) 14.60, Matt Pagan (USA) 12.40, Sebastien Zietz (HAW) 10.84, Diego Rosa (BRA) 7.40
Heat 22: Heath Joske (AUS) 15.27, Alain Riou (PYF) 11.70, Nicholas Squires (AUS) 10.80, Dane Anderson (USA) 9.54
Heat 23: Garret Parkes (AUS) 15.40, Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 11.56, Nic Muscroft (AUS) 10.37, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 8.20
Heat 24: William Cardoso (BRA) 12.26, James Wood (AUS) 11.90, Renato Galvao (BRA) 10.30, Jayce Robinson (GBR) 8.57