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SAN
CLEMENTE, California (Friday, November 07, 2008) - The Association of
Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Longboard Tour (WLT) completed Round
3 of the Oxbow World Longboard Tour at San Onofre State Beach today in
Peaky two-to-three foot (1 metre) surf. Round 3 action saw event
trialist Joe Aaron (USA), 17, eliminate reigning ASP WLT Champion Phil
Rajzman (BRA) from competition, while Hawaiians Bonga Perkins (HAW),
36, and Ned Snow (AUS), 23, posted some big scores in their bouts.
The Oxbow World Longboard Tour at San Onofre State Beach marks the last
of two events on the ASP WLT with the top finisher of the series taking
the title of ASP World Longboard Champion. Harley Ingleby (AUS), 25,
won the last Oxbow World Longboard Tour event at Les Cavalliers in
Anglet, France and the Australian is still in the hunt for back-to-back
Oxbow World Longboard Tour wins.
Aaron, who entered the Oxbow World Longboard Tour event via the trials,
issued the upset of the contest by eliminating the defending ASP WLT
champion, Rajzman, from competition in a tight Round 3 heat to advance
into Round 4. The unexpected elimination of Rajzman by the young local
surfer halts the Brazilians chances of a repeat ASP WLT title.
I’m so psyched,” Aaron said. “I’m just stoked that I got the sets and
beating him is just such a career highlight for me. To me, before I
started that heat I was kind of thinking that going against the world
champ, that it was impossible for me to advance, but I guess nothing’s
impossible.”
Aaron, who is the youngest surfer remaining in the event, hopes he can
carry the confidence earned from defeating the current ASP WLT Champion
into his next heat.
This helps my confidence,” Aaron said. “This betters me and I just want
to keep on trucking and try to stay confident in my next heat.”
Perkins opened up his heat by dropping an 8.0 and followed it up with
the highest single wave score of the event, a 9.50, both out of a
possible 10, in the opening minutes of his Round 3 match up against
local surfer Brad Vetter (USA) and held on to take the heat victory.
The 9.5 was my second wave and it wasn’t a set wave, but it lined up
really good,” Perkins said. “I think when you have these conditions
sometimes the biggest waves aren’t the best ones because the smaller
ones have more of a wall. That wave really helped me out in the long
run, because I had a couple of 8’s and Brad (Vetter) had a couple of
8’s, so that made the difference. I’ll take it.”
Despite the fact that Perkins earned one of the highest heat totals of
the event, Vetter fought back and posted a 17.15 out of 20, falling
just short of Perkins’ near-perfect performance.
Brad (Vetter), my props to him because he just made it that much
harder,” Perkins said. “He started banging out a couple of 8’s, it came
down to the last couple of minutes. It was a pretty close one though.
That was a nail biter. All these guys who surf here, especially the
local boys, you’re kind of at a disadvantage when you surf against them
when San Onofre State Beach gets a little small and a little more
technical. These guys pick up on it quick so I just wanted to catch a
couple waves early in my heat so at least I’d have a chance. It proved
to be the winning combination so I’m pretty happy about that.”
Perkins, who is currently third on the ASP WLT, is still in contention
to claim this year’s ASP World Longboard Title, but the veteran surfer
is focusing on his Round 4 heat against Jared Neal (AUS) first.
It would be nice, but I can’t even think about it right now,” Perkins
said. “Of course that’s the ultimate reward, but right now I’m just
taking it heat by heat. I’ve got Jared Neal next and I’m more focused
on that at the moment than I am going for a world title.”
Ned Snow took advantage of a desired rematch against 2006 ASP World
Longboard Champion Josh Constable (AUS) and earned the better of the
exchange at San Onofre State Beach today by posting a heat total of
17.40 to oust the defending champion from the event. Snow lost to
Constable in the Final of the 2006 ASP WLT Championships and was happy
to get his chance to top the fierce competitor at this year’s Oxbow
World Longboard Tour event.
It was a good rematch,” Snow said. “When I saw my name dropped in next
to his I was really excited. I’m stoked with how it turned out. I’ve
been waiting to come up against him for a while because he won the
World Championships in 2006 and I got second. I wish I was in his
position back then, but it’s all good. That was that event and there’s
always another.”
Tomorrow’s Oxbow World Longboard Tour at San Onofre State Beach will
see the event’s top performers hit the water in Round 4 at 7:30am.
Oxbow World Longboard Tour Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Colin McPhillips (USA) 16.00 def. Damien Castera (FRA) 12.20
Heat 2: Timothee Creignout (FRA) 14.00 def. Troy Mothershed (USA) 12.15
Heat 3: Jared Neal (AUS) 12.60 def. Duane de Soto (HAW) 12.45
Heat 4: Bonga Perkins (HAW) 17.50 def. Brad Vetter (USA) 12.60
Heat 5: Eduardo Bage (BRA) 10.55 def. Jonathan Larcher (FRA) 10.50
Heat 6: Jamie Viudes (BRA) 13.00 def. Jeremias da Silva (BRA) 12.25
Heat 7: Ned Snow (HAW) 17.40 def. Josh Constable (AUS) 14.20
Heat 8: Harley Ingleby (AUS) 17.60 def. Steve Newton (USA) 13.75
Heat 9: Antoine Delpero (FRA) 10.00 def. Tom Witt (USA) 9.07
Heat 10: Bryce Young (AUS) 11.75 def. Tom Lloy (USA) 10.25
Heat 11: Josh Baxter (USA) 13.50 def. Amaro Matos (BRA) 10.10
Heat 12: Romain Maurin (FRA) 14.85 def. Cole Robbins (USA) 13.50
Heat 13: Joe Aaron (USA) 11.50 def. Phil Rajzman (BRA) 11.25
Heat 14: Alex Salazar (BRA) 14.75 def. Ben Skinner (GBR) 12.90
Heat 15: Matthew Moir (ZAF) 14.60 def. Sam Bleakley (GBR) 10.40
Heat 16: Taylor Jensen (USA) 18.25 def. Kekoa Uemura (HAW) 8.35
Previous Reports:
#5. Day#3:OxbowPro Temporarily on Hold
#4. Day#2: Locals Flare in OxbowPro
#3. Day#1: World Longboard Tour Final Leg
#2. World Longboard Champion to be Crowned
#1. Longboard Oxbow Pro in San Onofre
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