RIO DE JANEIRO, Rio de Janeiro (Sunday, October 18, 2009) – The Oakley Rio Pro Junior ended in celebration for the Oakley Team at Arpoador Beach. Brazilian Jadson Andre surfed the only 10-point ride of the entire event and won the Final over his good friend Miguel Pupo. Pupo is still on the ASP South America Pro Junior Series and both surfers are guaranteed spots into the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January, 2010.
The Oakley Rio Pro Junior started last Friday and finished in good waves of two-to-three foot (1 metre) at Arpoador Beach in Rio de Janeiro today.
"We made it quite a heat, each one taking some waves and when I want so much something, it happens. I’m stoked for it. Me and Miguel (Pupo) are brothers and when he was at the peak, I waited in the middle and when I was with the priority he waited, so who surfed better would win the heat" said Andre, current second place in WQS Ranking and already confirmed in 2010 ASP World Tour and in ASP World Pro Junior.
The Final of the Oakley Rio Pro Junior started with Miguel Pupo surfing close to the rocks waiting for the great lefts of Arpoador Beach. Andre took a nice left (6,83 points) and Pupo surfed his first wave remaining 10 minutes to go, a beautiful wave that Pupo surfed strong with a combination of maneuvers to receive an 8.83 score from judges.
The priority went to Andre, but Pupo surfed a good wave of 7.33 points to take the lead, Andre had his revenge in his first left coming from the rocks and with three strong moves, he scored a 9.20 wave, them he still need to replace the 6.83 with a 6.96 to win the final with just 5 minutes remaining. Pupo had the priority but Andre founded another good wave in the middle of the beach to score a 7.70 wave, winning the Oakley Rio Pro Junior and finishing the great final with 16.90 x 16.16 points (out a possible of 20).
"My goal here was to reach the final and help my teammates" said Andre. "Without doubt, I helped Pupo winning the semis over Alejo (Muniz), who is fighting directly for the South American title with him. And the most fantastic is this was my first final with Pupo. We were hoping that a lot since started the event. So I’m just stoked to make the final with him and surfed well, because the last three contests I didn’t had my best surf" completed Andre.
Another goal for Andre was to make all the records of Oakley Rio Pro Junior, and he did, with a 10 point ride and 18.00 total heat points, in the semis he also surfed a 9.60 wave to put Alejo Muniz in combination. Miguel Pupo already won the first semi-final over Jesse Mendes and the quarters against his good friend Gabriel Medina.
"I’m happy to make the final with Jadson and practically stamped my place in the World Pro Junior in Australia. And to me, the heat against Medina was the most difficult in years. Medina is on fire and certainly this was the best heat for me at this year. Now let’s go to Bahia to try another good result and there I will try to win the South American Pro Junior title" promises Pupo.
The four first positions of the South American ranking of ASP South America stills the same after the Oakley Rio Pro Junior. Pupo is in first, followed by Alejo Muniz, Caio Ibelli and Jeronimo Vargas in fourth.
"I was not luck in the semis against Pupo, so congratulations to him, who surfed really well and moved to the final. But there’s nothing definite yet. The next event is really important and the positions will change again for sure. Everyone has a chance and who gets better in Bahia will classify, so I need to stay focus and prepare" said Jesse Mendes.
Who also was happy with the result at Oakley Rio Pro Junior, was the Oakley Manager for Brazil, Luis Henrique Saboia (Pinga). "There were actually two weeks of hard work, with four events in 15 days, then I have to thank all the guys who left this great waves for us, the staff of Arpoador Local Association and everybody who worked hard for this event. For the team, we have been working with Jadson and Pupo since 2001 with the same methodology that I work with Adriano de Souza, who is a reference for all of them. And the good think is see that this work is yielding results and my goal is make them solid competitors in the future”.
OAKLEY RIO PRO JUNIOR FINAL – 16.90 x 16.16 points:
Champion: Jadson Andre (BRA) with scores 9,20 and 7,70 – US$ 2.000 and 1.000 points
Runner-Up: Miguel Pupo (BRA) with scores 8,83 and 7,33 – US$ 900 and 860 points
