Tiago Pires : photo ASP/Kirstin:Covered Images 

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Europe

Rip Curl Pro Search Somewhere
Stop No. 6 of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour
Somewhere, Indonesia July 30 August 10, 2008

Pires Ends up Fantastic Rip Curl Pro Search Run in Semifinals

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 August, 2008 : - - Capbreton, France - Tiago Pires (Ericeira, PRT), who was the first ASP Top 45 member to defeat 8X ASP World Champion and current ratings' leader Kelly Slater (Floida, USA) in Round 3, secured his best result ever on an ASP World Tour event finishing equal 3rd in the Rip Curl Pro Search "Somewhere in Indonesia" after losing to Fred Patacchia (Oahu, HAW) in Semifinal No. 1.

Pires, who only needed an average 5.00 point ride (out of a possible 10) to steal first place from Patacchia, gave all he had to try and advance through to the final but fell on his two last waves leaving the Hawaiian get away with a birth in the final.

Pires, who defeated Dayyan Neve (AUS) in Round 4 and experienced Western Australian charger Kierren Perrow (AUS) in the Quarterfinals, missed his first final on the ASP World Tour today but equalled the best result of a European on tour with his equal 3rd finish. Jeremy Flores (FRA), who bowed out in Round 3 in the Rip Curl Pro Search, was the last European to reach a semifinal in the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles last year.

"This is the best result of my career and it takes the pressure off of me to get a 3rd at the halfway point this season," Pires said.

Pires, who was rated No. 39 going into Stop No. 6 of the ASP World Tour, needed a big result to keep any ASP World Tour requalification hopes alive and achieved two spectacular results in Indonesia: he defeated Slater and placed equal 3rd in some of the best waves seen on tour since the Rip Curl Pro Search "Somewhere in Mexico" in 2006. He jumps to No. 27 on the overall ratings.

"It should help me and give me a better seed going into Lower Trestles", Pires said. "I have a pretty busy summer. I am doing all the ASP WQS events in Europe so it is a lot of surfing for me coming up." 

Miky Picon (Hossegor, FRA) and Jeremy Flores (New Caledonia, FRA) were the two other European surfers in the event and had different fates. Flores, currently ahead of his fellow European friends on the overall ratings, suffered an early Round 3 elimination against Ben Dunn (AUS), who was to defeat Picon in Round 4 later on.

Picon, who placed equal 9th after losing to Dunn in Round 4, got through Rounds 2 and 3 defeating former ASP World Champion CJ Hobgood (Florida, USA) en route to equalling his Billabong Pro Tahiti result, his best on tour thus far. Picon, who will now head back to Europe to attend major ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) events in France, has been improving event after event and will attend Stop No. 7 of the ASP World Tour confidently.

Related report: Tiago crsuhed Kelly

All news, photos, results and videos available at www.aspworldtour.com and www.aspeurope.com

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH EUROPEANS' RESULTS
3rd, Tiago Pires (PRT)
9th, Miky Picon (FRA)
17th, Jeremy Flores (FRA)

ASP WORLD TOUR EUROPEANS' RATINGS
No. 13, Jeremy Flores (FRA), 3121 pts
No. 24, Miky Picon (FRA), 2470 pts
No. 27, Tiago Pires (PRT), 2371 pts
No. 45, Aritz Aranburu (EUK), INJURED

PROFILES AVAILABLE
Miky Picon (FRA) at http://m1e.net/c?27506316-Xj13K6nTcXT/Q%403518332-bkx64avnEznpM 
Tiago Pires (PRT) at http://m1e.net/c?27506316-n63sp0HQLs/8Q%403518333-arrJDvSSN1TOY 
Jeremy Flores (FRA) at http://m1e.net/c?27506316-wZdfmtoZnxBK.%403518334-DOl78vnANrBd6

References
[1] http://m1e.net/c?27506316-PbXVQk8iunsGg%403518335-tEkZlleyFYWbM
[2] http://m1e.net/c?27506316-sRfRkKMGgT0lo%403518336-zCwJ2bp5tXCTE
[3] http://m1e.net/c?27506316-F4j0MUags0TS.%403518332-y28WG6XYQBVwE
[4] http://m1e.net/c?27506316-imkpw/9kgwbhw%403518333-M8eARRUwhcqmk
[5] http://m1e.net/c?27506316-ntqSsdqa17VQI%403518334-rk4Ffzgr3xonk
[6] http://m1e.net/c?27506316-L3FhPxg8dF146%403518336-9HHGF1vnrNLSU

About ASP: The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.

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Gregoire Puget
greg@aspeurope.com

Team News - Surfersvillage