08 June 2004
LOHIFUSHI, June 8 (DeepBlueOpen.com) -- The 4th edition of the O’Neill
Deep Blue Open, Prime 6 star ASP, World
Qualifying Series (WQS) event in the Maldives
got underway on Monday morning at the left
hand point break of Lohi’s, and raced
from the trial rounds through to the completion
of heat 12 of the round of 160.
Over 170 surfers from across the globe
jetted in the Maldives to compete in the
jewel in the crown of the WQS tour, but
by the close of the day 1, the numbers had
radically diminished. As two by two they
were cruelly eliminated by a cutthroat day
of the high performance surfing that has
come to be the signature of the Maldives
event.
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First thing on Monday morning Lohi’s
looked a shadow of its former self with
a notable reduction in both power and size
from last year’s epic sessions. It
was almost like the O’Neill Deep Blue
Open’s wave of choice was suffering
stage fright for the early heats.
However, as midday drew closer, the racy
left-hand point break began to stir back
to life, and with the confidence of the
pushing tide hooking up with the leading
edge of the long awaited new swell, the
infamous reef dished up a healthy serving
of its 3 - 4 ft, trademark walls.
Earlier round surfers overcame the small
and challenging Maldivian conditions to
provide a taster of things to come later
in the day, pulling out the stops for a
dose of high performance, radical surfing
which was duly awarded with some meaty scores.
Standout surfer from Monday morning’s
trial rounds of the event was Australian
Ben Dunn. Dunn triumphed over the small,
tricky side shore conditions to lock in
the first 9-point ride of the event. After
picking off one of the rare set waves of
the 25-minute heat, Dunn worked it through
to the inside to take the score and firmly
engage a birth in the round of 160.
“It wasn’t really what I expected
from the Maldives. It’s my first time
here and I was expecting perfect waves but
it was pretty fun still. I didn’t
get any waves free surfing this morning
so it was good to go out there and catch
some,” said Ben.
“That nine point score was the only
set I caught all heat. There were a lot
of close outs and there were a few big lulls
out there so I was lucky to get that set
wave to score the nine… I’m
stoked to be here. I nearly didn’t
make it when I lost my passport in Singapore,
but someone found it just in time for me
to get on the plane,” he added.
In Heat 1 of the round of 160 American
Dane Reynolds quickly followed suit engaging
the second high scoring ride of the morning.
Picking off one of the more gutsy sets on
offer during the 25 minute heat, Reynolds
drove squarely off the bottom and up into
the crumbling minty blue lip with a series
of lighting strike snaps to lock in a high
scoring combination and secure his place
in the next round of 128.
As midday raced through the new swell,
that has been on the cards for the past
few days, finally hooked up with the tidal
push, and began to feed the reef with Lohi’s
signature walling lefthanders. With the
increase in consistency the performance
levels again began to stir and crank up
a few notches. Brett Simpson from the USA
was amongst the first to take advantage
of the resuscitated conditions, throwing
aerials, critical re-entries and speedy,
long floaters into his heat-winning repertoire.
“That was the best heat and waves
I have surfed in a long time,” stated
Simpson. “Lohi’s is a really
good left. Usually we are surfing beach
breaks on the WQS tour so it’s really
cool to come to such a high performance
reef for a change. I was kind of stressing
because I hadn’t caught a wave for
a while and everyone else was getting stuck
in. Finally I paddled into one of the larger
sets and got a few turns going. I have a
long way to go in this contest and there
are a lot of good guys here but it’s
good to get though the first heat. It sets
you up for the contest,” he added.
The Brazilian contingent, that have consistently
been a dominant force over the past three
years of the O’Neill Deep Blue Open,
again stamped their mark on the 2004 edition
early in the heat 8 wave fest. Mild mannered
Crhhistiano Spirro teamed up with fellow
countryman Fernando Moura and let rip, taking
the heat apart to ensure their progression.
At the culmination of the 25-minute heat
Spirro had racked up an untouchable combination
to ensure his progression into the next
round.
“That was a really good heat for
me,” said a relaxed Spirro. “The
wave is really good for a WQS event. It’s
not perfect today but it’s still a
lot of fun. I’m looking forward to
the next round…last year there were
a lot of Brazilians in the final; it's a
shame Raoni (Montiero) or one of the boys
didn’t win but maybe this year we’ll
finally crack it,” he added.
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Towards the end of the day’s proceedings,
the consistency of the left-hander began
to heighten, topping out at a clean and
speedy 4ft. Japan ripper Teippi Tajima in
the penultimate heat of the day reveled
in the conditions. Picking himself off a
choice aqua marine wall, and carefully dissecting
it from the take off zone straight through
to the far right-hand side of the island.
His 40-meter trip earned him a near perfect
9.5, the highest wave score of the day and
passage through to the next round.
“I think I was so lucky in that heat.
I was in the right position for so many
of the bigger set waves so I could just
have a lot of fun with it,” said Teippi.
“The waves have got much better this
afternoon and it’s such a good wave
for a WQS competition. I look forward to
the next round. I just want to win!”
he stated.
ASP Australasia’s Matt Wilson is
again master of ceremonies for the event
and summed up the 1st day’s proceedings
as the free surf sessions hit the early
evening water.
“We’ve had no waves in the
Maldives for like a month and then, the
first day of the event it just turns on
like clockwork, it’s spooky,”
said Wilson.
“We had a good taste of things to
come today. Lohi’s is such a high
performance wave that we always have a spread
of excellent scores from start to finish.
We had 9’s from the very first heat.
Anyone who surfs strong, fast and powerful
maneuvers is always going to do well here.
It’s been a good, solid start and
it looks like things are only going to get
better for the event,” he added.
The official opening ceremony of the 4th
O’Neill Deep Blue Open was scheduled
to be held on Tuesday.
Note:
For live video webcasts, photo galleries,
and news updates of the 4th O’Neill
Deep Blue Open, go to the link, http://www.deepblueopen.com
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