Oakley's Adriano De Souza Keeps Top World Ranking At 6.0 Lowers Pro; Nat Young Takes Second In Oakley Pro Junior
Oakley’s Adriano De Souza finished equal third at the 6.0 Lowers Pro on Saturday in two-to-four foot surf at the famed cobblestone pointbreak of Lower Trestles. The world’s finest surfers pushed the performance barriers of competitive surfing throughout the entire week of competition while reveling in the firing south swell. Gabe Kling of Florida took the win. Oakley’s Nat Young placed second in the ASP Grade-2 Oakley Pro Junior.
The shift to the ASP One World Rating attracted more than 30 ASP Dream Tour competitors and the globe’s hottest up-and-coming surfers to Lower Trestles while the ASP Pro Junior competitors flocked to the Oakley Pro Junior to gather points towards their regional ratings in an attempt to qualify for the inaugural ASP World Junior Tour, the first stop of which is the Oakley ASP World Junior Tour event running at the high-performance wave of Keramas in Bali, October 2-13, 2010.
Kling quietly navigated his way through the early rounds of competition before gaining momentum in the final day of action. The Floridian talent unleashed a furious backhand attack on the Lowers lefthanders and combined his heats with a repertoire of powerful carves and rail gouges on his forehand to eliminate current ASP Dream Tour No. 2 Jordy Smith (ZAF), 22, in their Quarterfinals bout, and former three-time ASP World Champion Andy Irons (Hanalei, HI), 31, in the Semifinals before taking out the 6.0 Lowers Pro title over Davidson.
“There were no easy heats out there and I felt like I just kept squeaking through,” Kling said. “I didn’t even win a heat until it went to man-on-man. I kind of peaked at the right time and had a lot of luck on my side. This is the biggest win of my career.”
The Floridian regular-footer’s 6.0 Lowers Pro win will help to catapult Kling to the higher rung of the ASP One World Ratings, substantially helping his chances of qualification for next year’s ASP Dream Tour.
“This gives me so much confidence with 35 of the 45 guys from the tour here,” Kling said. “It’s huge for me, this is definitely the biggest win of my career. This is Lowers with the best guys, and this win is just huge.”
Oakley’s reigning ASP North America Pro Junior Series Champion Nat Young placed second while Andrew Doheny clinched his first ASP Pro Junior victory.
“I don’t even know what to say, this doesn’t feel real,” Doheny said. “I hope it’s not a dream. This was the hardest draw because there were so many good international guys competing. It’s been an awesome event and it’s been inspiring to see all of the top pros like Andy (Irons) surfing.”
For additional information, photos and video highlights, log on to nike6lowerspro.com. For more about the Oakley Pro Junior, visit www.oakleyprojunior.com.
The 6.0 Lowers Pro and Oakley Pro Junior wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of sponsors. A special thank you goes out to title sponsor Nike 6.0 and junior title sponsor Oakley, co-sponsors Red Bull and Corralejo Tequila, and media sponsors Surfer (surfermag.com), Surfing (surfingthemag.com) and FUEL TV. Additional thanks go to official event forecaster – Surfline.
6.0 Lowers Pro Final Results:
1- Gabe Kling (USA) 16.50
2- Chris Davidson (AUS) 11.77
6.0 Lowers Pro Semifinals Results:
Heat 1: Chris Davidson (AUS) 14.93 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.53
Heat 2: Gabe Kling (USA) 12.86 def. Andy Irons (HAW) 12.64
6.0 Lowers Pro Quarterfinals Results:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.27 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 8.44
Heat 2: Chris Davidson (USA) 14.93 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.40
Heat 3: Andy Irons (HAW) 18.57 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 11.93
Heat 4: Gabe Kling (USA) 16.50 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.77
6.0 Lowers Pro Round of 16 Results:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.77 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 13.33
Heat 2: Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.43 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 12.00
Heat 3: Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.06 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 7.50
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.90 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 12.17
Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW) 13.33 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 12.60
Heat 6: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.94 def. John John Florence (HAW) 8.40
Heat 7: Gabe Kling (USA) 12.90 def. Cory Lopez (USA) 10.60
Heat 8: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.67 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.10
Oakley Pro Junior Final Results:
1- Andrew Doheny (USA) 17.10
2- Nat Young (USA) 15.40
3- Dylan Goodale (HAW) 14.17
4- Tyler Newton (HAW) 13.60
Oakley Pro Junior Semifinals Results:
Heat 1: Nat Young (USA) 17.33, Tyler Newton (HAW) 12.33, Evan Thompson (USA) 10.44, Conner Coffin (USA) 10.34
Heat 2: Dylan Goodale (HAW) 16.46, Andrew Doheny (USA) 14.84, Evan Geiselman (USA) 14.83, Kiron Jabour (HAW) 8.53
Change Country