With the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star Azores Islands Pro crowning its champion tomorrow, all remaining surfers were psyched today to deliver their best performance and keep the title chase alive, knowing a win in this first ever ASP sanctioned event in the Azores would go down in surfing history books. From current ratings’ leaders to the few remaining outsiders, performance went through the roof today with massive airs and power surfing displayed by the variety of styles seen in the water, rising stars shining along with experienced soldiers.
Today’s action took the event down to its final-four contenders, the remaining heats of Round 4 being followed by the eight battles of Round 5 before moving into the exciting Quarterfinals where the levels of surfing left everyone breathless, wrapping-up an intense show, with Tiago Pires (Ericeira, PRT) dominating the day in the final bout against ASP World Junior champion Kai Barger (HAW) with a 18.00 point heat total.
Pleasing his Portuguese fans, the current ASP Top 45 member, 28, closed the show with a series of 8.50 and 9.50 point rides, the national surf star a.k.a the Portuguese Tiger advancing through to the Semifinals where he will be the favorite. Pires, who had scored the only perfect 10.00 point ride of the event earlier in the day, was in unstoppable form getting an immense support from the hundreds of spectators on the beach to keep his roll going before tomorrow’s showdown.
