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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Silvana Lima (BRA), 29, has won the 2014 ASP 6-Star Pantin Classic Galicia Pro, defeating Australian campaigner Bronte Macaulay (AUS), 20, in an extremely tight Final.

Needing only an average score after she had surfed an excellent righthander, the talented Brazilian chose an inside left in the dying seconds of the Final claim the event win.

Silvana Lima chaired up the beach

“I’m so stoked to win here,” said Lima, who currently tops the ASP Women’s Qualifying Series (QS) rankings. “Bronte has been ripping all event and I know for a fact she wanted to win 100 percent in that Final. God gave me that last wave and I’m so thankful for that. Honestly I didn’t think I’d get the score, but when I saw that wave I knew I had a good opportunity.”

While her situation on the rankings would allow Lima to stop competing in QS events, the passionate surfer will take her high-flying act home to Brazil for the closing two events of 2014.

“Off course I’m going to go there, I feel so confident in Brazil,” Lima said. “This will pretty much be a vacation for me now and I’m stoked to go and compete at home.”

The runner-up finish for Macaulay is her career-best result. On form all week, Macaulay caused the biggest upsets of the event’s Final day, eliminating World Championship Tour campaigners Coco Ho (HAW), 23, and Pauline Ado (FRA), 23, in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively.

Macaulay on her way to her first final

“It was a first experience in a comp this big to surf the Final, so it was a bit nerve wracking,” Macaulay admitted. “It came down to the last minute so it was a pretty cool first Final for me.”

With her result in Galicia giving Macaulay a huge leap in the QS rankings, the young competitor will now focus on her regional Under 20 series in Australia to try to qualify for the World Junior Championship.

“I’m still concentrating on the Junior tour in Australia and we have one more event in September in Cronulla,” Macaulay said. “I missed out on Oceanside this time, but next year I really want to give a good crack at a full QS season. Everyone’s so good it’s been amazing to watch all the girls here.”

Wold No. 9 Laura Enever (AUS), 22, suffered a shock elimination in the second Semifinal heat, not able to find the little runners she has been scoring high on all week. Enever placed equal third, a result that will see her occupy the top spots on the QS series.

Enever showed engagement in solid Pantin surf

“Pantin is such an amazing wave but it changes so much, and that heat didn’t exactly go as I planned,” Enever said. “Silvana and I both struggled to find open waves. I had two opportunities and I fell so I just blame myself anyway. No matter what, I’m stoked to be here in Pantin and have some swell. A third (place finish) is really all I needed to solidify my position.”

With a collection of solid results on her season scoreboard, Enever has done the work to insure her requalification through the QS and will have the leisure of concentrating on the back-half of the WCT year.

“The whole reason I came to Europe was to try and have that pressure taken off me for the next events on Tour,” she continued. “I’m so excited for Trestles. I’m sure all the girls that weren’t here have an upper hand on training and surfing there, but I’m living there for the summer now so I’ve been surfing Lowers a lot.”

Ado also placed equal third, netting her best result of the QS season to collect an important 2,080 ranking points. The natural-footer’s campaign was stopped by an in-form Macaulay in the Semis, where she couldn’t find decent scoring opportunities.

Ado on a proper Galician bomb

“It’s a little frustrating to have completely missed that Semi,” Ado admitted. “There were good waves, but I couldn’t find them in the lineup. I also fell on a couple waves and I can’t afford mistakes at this level.”

With no certainty to end 2014 in the QS qualifying spots, Ado will now need to regroup and focus on the final four events of the WCT, to keep her hopes of a fifth season amongst the Top 17 alive.

“We’re going to have three back-to-back events now and the race to requalification through the WCT is very tight,” Ado added. “I’m confident and I’m going to give it my all. I really hope we get great waves in France, cause Trestles and Hawaii are places I’m looking forward to but where I haven’t had much practice in the past, so it will be interesting.”

Diego Mignot will face Kanoa Igarashi in the quarters

The men’s division also completed two rounds to decide eight Quarterfinalists and readies for an exciting Final day Sunday. Top scorers included Santiago Muniz (ARG), 21, who eliminated defending event champion Steven Pierson (PYF), 30, in the process.

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