Reef Hawaiian Pro

ASP 6-Star Prime WQS Men's Event
Alii Beach Haleiwa Oahu Hawaii
November 12 - 23, 2008

Live Coverage   |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

November 22, 2008- Haleiwa -- Tahitian Michel Bourez, 22, scored a career-best win in Hawaii today, taking first place in the $135,000 Reef Hawaiian Pro and an early lead on the prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series ratings.

Prior to today, Bourez's best result was a minor event win in the Canary Islands in 2005. Today's result takes him to the No.2 ranking on the ASP World Qualifying Series ratings, guaranteeing him a start on the elite ASP World Tour in 2009. Bourez earned $15,000 for his win today.

Runner-up was Brazil's Jihad Khodr, 24 ($7,500); third was Hawaii's Kekoa Bacalso (Mililani, $4,500), and fourth was Maui's Dusty Payne, the youngest of the finalists at 19 and the only surfer to come all the way through from the very first round, surfing eight times to earn $4,400.

In conditions that more closely resembled the hollow tubes of Tahiti or Hawaii's Off-The-Wall, Bourez hit his stride in the semi-finals in an unbelievable demonstration of deep tube-riding and critical power maneuvers, posting the highest wave and heat scores of the entire event: 18.96 points out of 20 for the heat, and 9.93 out of 10 for his top tube ride. In the final, he posted a total of 16.77 points with scores of 9.77 and 7.0.

"That semi was maybe the best heat of my life," said Bourez. "Everybody was getting barreled I was screaming my head off. It was so sick. I was having so much fun out there and that's what I call a good contest.

"It means a lot to just (qualify for) the World Tour. I've been dreaming about this my whole life since I started to surf. I've been watching all the best surfers, like Kelly (Slater) and (Rob) Machado, all those guys. And, right now I can surf with them. It's a good opportunity for me and all the Tahitian surfers. I'm stoked for Tahiti."

If Bourez can hold onto his lead of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series ratings, he could win a $10,000 bonus and a $10,000 one-of-a-kind Nixon tide watch featuring over two-carats of diamonds. Khodr also had the crowd going wild with a hugely successful mix of determination, tube-riding and never-say-die attack on every wave he rode. Khodr peaked on time in the final, coming so close but just short of the win.

His final scoreline: 16.5 with individual wave scores of 8.5 and 8.0 for a couple of great tubes that were slightly shorter and not as deep as Bourez's. Khodr's result today moved him up to fifth on the WQS rankings and back onto the World Tour stage in 2009

"It was real hard for me to get a good result this year," said Khodr. "When I got to Hawai'i I knew something was going to change and I got second place. I'm so stoked. (2009) is going to be my first year on the ASP World Tour."

The highest placed US Mainland surfers were Brett Simpson and Timmy Reyes, both from Huntington Beach. Simpson lost in semi-final with a score that would have seen him advance through the majority of heats this event - 14.07. He placed equal 7th overall. Reyes lost in the quarter finals, placing equal 13th overall.

The top placing Australians were Nic Muscroft (equal fifth, semi-final loss), and Joel Parkinson (equal fifth, semi-final loss). Defending Vans Triple Crown champion Bede Durbidge also lost in the semi-finals, placing equal 7th overall. Parkinson and Bede suffered a wave-starved heat that left them with nothing to ride and no chance at reaching the final again this year.

The final day of the Reef Hawaiian Pro started out just short of a washout. Pouring rain and howling onshore winds greeted competitors at dawn and the event came close to being called off. Then the wind began to clock and before long the rubble was transformed into airbrushed barrels. For those spectators who braved the conditions, the returns were huge.

Heading on to the next event, the following Qualifying Series surfers are considered "safe" for qualifying for the 2009 ASP World Tour: Nathaniel Curran (USA), Michel Bourez (Tahiti), Chris Davidson (Australia), Gabe Kling (US), Jihad Khodr (Brazil), Josh Kerr (Aus), Kekoa Bacalso (Hawaii), Nic Muscroft (Aust), Tim Boal (France), Tiago Pires (Portugal) and Dustin Barca (Hawaii).

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series now moves to Sunset Beach for the men's O'Neill World Cup of Surfing and the women's Roxy Pro. The holding period for these events begins Monday, November 24 and runs through to December 6.

To examine surf updates for the coming days, visit official forecasters Wetsand.com .

Highest heat score of the day:
18.96 (9.93 & 9.03) - Michel Bourez (Tahiti) Semi-final 1

Highest single wave score today:
9.93 - Michel Bourez (Tahiti) Semi-final 1

 

RESULTS

MEN'S FINAL
1st. Michel Bourez (Tahiti) - 16.77 out of 20 (9.77 & 7.0) - $15,000
2nd. Jihad Khodr (Brazil) - 16.5 (8.5 & 8.0)- $7,500
3rd. Kekoa Bacalso (Hawaii) 15.83 (9.0 & 6.83) - $4,500
4th. Dusty Payne (Hawaii) 4.67 (2.67 & 2.0) - $4,400

MEN'S SEMI-FINALS:
H1: Michel Bourez (PYF), Kekoa Bacalso (HI), Nic Muscroft (Aus), Brett Simpson (CA)
H2: Jihad Khodr (Brz), Dusty Payne (HI), Joel Parkinson (Aus), Bede Durbidge (Aus)

MEN'S QUARTER FINALS:
H1: Kekoa Bacalso (HI), Michel Bourez (PYF), Evan Valiere (HI), Greg Emslie (SAf)
H2: Nic Muscroft (Aus), Brett Simpson (CA), Sunny Garcia (HI), Kieren Perrow (Aus)
H3: Bede Durbidge (Aus), Dusty Payne (HI), Chris Ward (CA), Dayyan Neve (Aus)
H4: Jihad Khodr (Brz), Joel Parkinson (Aus), Dustin Barca (HI), Tim Reyes (CA)

Men's Round of 32:
H1: Greg Emslie (SAf), Brett Simpson (US), Jay Thompson (Aus), Kekoa Cazimero (HI)
H2: Kekoa Bacalso (HI), Nic Muscroft (Aus), Tonino Benson (HI), Pancho Sullivan (HI)
H3: Kieren Perrow (Aus), Michel Bourez (PYF), Joel Centeio (HI), Taj Burrow (Aus)
H4: Sunny Garcia (HI), Evan Valiere (HI), Gabe Kling (US), Kai Otton (Aus)
H5: Dusty Payne (HI), Jihad Khodr (Brz), Roy Powers (HI), Taylor Knox (US)
H6: Bede Durbidge (Aus), Tim Reyes (US), Dustin Cuizon (HI), Makua Rothman (HI)
H7: Dustin Barca (HI), Dayyan Neve (Aus), Wiggolly Dantas (Brz), Rodrigo Dornelles (Brz)
H8: Joel Parkinson (Aus), Chris Ward (CA), Jordy Smith (SAf), Adam Melling (Aus)


WQS ratings after the Reef Hawaiian Pro

1     Curran,Nathaniel     USA     13200
2     Bourez,Michel     PYF     12775
3     Davidson,Chris     AUS     12525
4     Kling,Gabe     USA     12476
5     Khodr,Jihad     BRA     12150
6     Kerr,Josh     AUS     12075
7     Bacalso,Kekoa     HAW     11913
8     Muscroft,Nic     AUS     11900
9     Boal,Tim     FRA     11888
10     Pires,Tiago     PRT     11750
11     Barca,Dustin     HAW     11726
12     Emslie,Greg     ZAF     11626
13     Courtney,Drew     AUS     11600
14     Lipke,Marlon     DEU     11450
14     Weare,David     ZAF     11450
16     Gudauskas,Patrick     USA     11438
17     MacDonald,Phillip     AUS     11263
18     Bettero,Hizunome     BRA     11125
19     Romao,Simao     BRA     11000
20     Simpson,Brett     USA     10838
21     Andre,Jadson     BRA     10738
22     Nicol,Yadin     AUS     10675
23     Dantas,Wiggolly     BRA     10463
24     Garcia,Sunny     HAW     10425
24     Monteiro,Raoni     BRA     10425
26     Henrique,Pedro     BRA     10263
27     Alves,Heitor     BRA     10250
28     Cansdell,Shaun     AUS     10150
29     Gossmann,Shaun     AUS     10138
30     Paulino,Pablo     BRA     10100
31     Yeomans,Nathan     USA     10050
32     Atkinson,Dion     AUS     9976
33     Neves,Leonardo     BRA     9925
34     Sedley,Leigh     AUS     9775
35     Melling,Adam     AUS     9563
36     Robertson,Adam     AUS     9552
37     Ware,Austin     USA     9550
38     Dornelles,Rodrigo     BRA     9463
39     Thompson,Jay     AUS     9413
40     Ross,Daniel     AUS     9113
41     Cuizon,Dustin     HAW     8975
42     Centeio,Joel     HAW     8963
43     Duru,Joan     FRA     8913
44     Sodre,Yuri     BRA     8700
45     Hall,Glenn     IRE     8675
46     Gonzalez,Jonathan     CNY     8625
47     Losness,Mike     USA     8600
48     Cardoso,Willian     BRA     8425
49     Silva,Andre     BRA     8388
50     Wilkinson,Matt     AUS     8225
51     Logie,Travis     ZAF     8213
51     Ohno,Masatoshi     JPN     8213
53     Hedge,Nathan     AUS     8175
54     Miranda,Bernardo     BRA     8126
55     Silva,Jean da     BRA     8100
56     Wright,Warwick     ZAF     7988
57     Payne,Dusty     HAW     7957
58     Beven,Patrick     FRA     7950
59     Bombaci,Rhys     AUS     7925
60     Gudauskas,Tanner     USA     7726
61     Zubizarreta,Gony     ESP     7675
62     Ziems,Corey     AUS     7650
63     Souza,Adriano de     BRA     7594
64     Savalli,Hugo     REU     7475
65     Flintoff,Kirk     AUS     7450
66     Gudauskas,Dane     USA     7426
67     Benson,Tonino     HAW     7375
68     Galvao,Renato     BRA     7288
69     Acero,Eneko     EUK     7275
70     Polo,Marco     BRA     7263
71     Hansen,Bobby     NZL     7150
72     Aranburu,Aritz     EUK     7113
73     Coutinho,Odirlei     BRA     7100
74     Thornton,Blake     AUS     7075
75     Mariano,Adilton     BRA     6925
76     Padaratz,Neco     BRA     6900
77     Collazo,Hodei     ESP     6888
78     Rothman,Makuakai     HAW     6882
79     Ward,Shaun     USA     6776
80     Fahrenfort,Damien     ZAF     6738
81     Bastos,Leandro     BRA     6688
82     Laulhe,Romain     FRA     6675
83     Wilson,Blake     AUS     6632
84     Gillette,Gavin     HAW     6625
85     Belo,Jano     BRA     6614
86     Campbell,Ryan     AUS     6600
87     Barron,T.J     HAW     6576
88     Ward,Chris     USA     6556
89     Rebiere,Eric     FRA     6550
90     Toth,Brian     PRI     6538
91     Stang,Che     USA     6525
92     Bortoletto,Antonio     ZAF     6513
93     Sullivan,Jarrad     AUS     6444
94     Riou,Alain     PYF     6413
95     Herdy,Guilherme     BRA     6375
96     Novak,Flynn     HAW     6338
97     Trekinho,Marcelo     BRA     6301
98     Kennedy,Stuart     AUS     6289
99     Kimmins,Clint     AUS     6288
100     Fisher,Paul     AUS     6275