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Damien Hobgood (Florida, USA) is carried up the beach by friends after he clinched the Nova Schin Festival Presented by Billabong title at. The Floridian moved into fifth position on the ASP WCT ratings.
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NOVA SCHIN FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY BILLABONG (31 October - 9 November)
EVENT #10 ON THE FOSTER'S ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) MEN'S WORLD TOUR
Live on www.aspworldtour.com and www.billabongpro.com
HOBGOOD CLAIMS VICTORY IN THE NOVA SCHIN FESTIVAL IN BRAZIL
Tuesday 8 November, 2005
Imbituba, Santa Catarina Brazil
It was a memorable day in surfing history today as Damien Hobgood (USA) defeated Victor Ribas (BRA) in front of an extremely vocal crowd at the Nova Schin Festival presented by Billabong in Brazil.
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After disposing Andy Irons in the quarter finals Nathan Hedge (AUS) then lost to Victor Ribas in the semi-finals. Hedge's equal third place overall equalled his best result for the 2005 Fosters Mens ASP World Tour.
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Surfing in one metre (three foot) waves at Imbituba, Santa Catarina, Brazil, Hobgood stole a wave in the dying seconds of the final to claim the victory in the event, the 10th on the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour career.
Coming from behind and knowing he only needed a small score - a 3.3 out of 10 - Hobgood grabbed a smaller inside wave in the dying stages of the final and punched out two quick turns to score a 4.13 in what was a nail biting finish for both competitors and spectators alike.
It was a slow start in the 35 minute encounter with neither surfer really able to catch any quality waves until Hobgood scored an 8.17 with seven minutes to go. He then had to wait patiently until those dying seconds for his last score as the ocean went flat.
Ribas meanwhile had locked away some average scores of 5.17 and 5.33 and had the full backing of the incredibly passionate crowd. Each time Ribas stroked into waves they roared loudly, jumped up and down and hooted.
It was Hobgood's second final appearance in a row - he finished second behind Andy Irons (HAW) in France - and he knew he had an inside running here today due to what he claimed was divine intervention.
"It was one of those contests where I wasn't really surfing that well but the Lord was telling me that this was my contest," said Hobgood. "I'd be in a heat and the waves would be bad and then a bomb would just come to me! I started off slow and gained momentum throughout the event. I'm super stoked with the win."
Hobgood acknowledged that it was a slow final and that he didn't really dominate as he would have liked but in scratching into his final wave of the event he knew he had played the right hand, but given the vocal nature of the crowd he didn't want to go overboard in showing his excitement as he didn't want the crowd to get out of control.
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Rookie WCT campaigner Travis Logie (Durban, RSA) caused a sensational upset when he stopped 6 times world champ Kelly Slater's campaign for victory at the Nova Schin Festival in round 4. Logie advanced to the quarterfinals where he will face Damien Hobgood.
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"I certainly didn't command the heat," said Hobgood. "I couldn't hear clearly but I thought they said I needed a 3.0 or something [which was correct] and I paddled for that last wave. I thought it wasn't that good but I went for it because I thought it would be my last hurrah. I took off late but managed to get in front of the section and I knew if I could do two good turns I'd get the score. As soon as I finished I knew I'd got the score and if I was anywhere else in the world I would have claimed it but I didn't want get the crowd going too crazy so I just cut out."
Hobgood went on to site that he was trying emulate Joel Parkinson's (AUS) new found drive. After taking time off since the event in Japan back in September, Parkinson was "frothing like a grommet" being incredibly excited every time he hit the water for a heat.
"I was trying to draw energy from Joel Parkinson," said Hobgood. "He was so amped to be back in the water after his injury I was trying to be like him and charge out there and just really enjoy competing."
Ribas, in having the backing of the locals was in excellent form in the lead up to the final. He was unfortunate in that the set waves were few and far between. His two average scoring rides were just below par of Hobgood's excellent wave and a smaller one.
"I couldn't hear very well out there and I didn't know he needed only a 3.3," said Ribas. "I did my best and I tried to make all the manoeuvres on the waves but unfortunately he only needed that small score and he did make it. But I'm so proud that I have represented my country well. I always hope to do well for them."
Through this second place today and his third placing in France, Ribas is now in a solid position on the ratings after looking very shaky all year previously. Originally he hadn't qualified for the 2005 Foster's ASP Men's World Tour but due to the retirment of Pat O'Connell (USA) at the start of this year Ribas scored a start and is now cemented for a return in 2006.
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Six times ASP world champ and current ratings leader Kelly Slater (Florida, USA) was devastated after losing to rookie WCT campaigner Travis Logie (South Africa) after a close heat in round 4.
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"I have to thank Pat O'Connell for retiring as that was how I made it into the top 45 this year," said Ribas. "I was so stoked to be back this year and to have some big results. At Trestles this year Pat was driving the jetski in the surf and I thanked him for everything, for helping me get here on the WCT. I am very stoked to be here and have the crowd behind me. I didn't win but for me it was like a win in front of this crowd."
Finishing in equal third place was Nathan Hedge (AUS) who had an interesting day in that he contributed to the world title race by defeating Andy Irons in the quarter-finals. Irons needed to finish at least third here to keep the title race alive going into the next event at Pipeline Hawaii and Hedge blasted to victory scoring the highest heat score of the event.
His dream run came to an end in the semi-finals, however, as he went down fighting to Ribas. He was held back by some long lulls and couldn't find the big scores.
"I felt as though I hadn't even really hit my straps yet in the event so I was a bit disappointed that the waves didn't come in that heat, said Hedge. "But that's surfing you know. You just have to take the good with the bad. Victor is really hard to beat in these conditions as he only needs half a wave and he'll catch it. That was my second best result of the year and it came at a good time of the year. It'll keep me in the top 10 so now just bring on Pipe!"
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Mick Fanning (Aus) finished equal ninth in the Nova Schin Festival.
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Equalling Hedge was another Brazilian hot shot in Raoni Monteiro. Up until this event and the World Qualifying Series event held last week, he was looking like bowing out of the elite tour for lack of quality results.
Monteiro is a promising youngster and will certainly be a serious challenger in future as in an earlier round he landed one of the biggest aerial reverse manoeuvres of the event. In his semifinal against Hobgood, Monteiro, like Hedge was hampered by the long breaks between set waves. He was however pleased with his performance.
"It was hard out there. He got a good one to start and I think that was the best wave of the heat," said Monteiro. "I had a small wave then I couldn't really come back. This is the first podium I've made so far so I'm really happy to get this far. It was an important event for me because I needed a good result and I think now I'm in 30th on the WCT and now in 18th on the WQS. If I do well when I get to Hawaii then I'm back in."
Results:
Round 3
Heat 11: Nathan Hedge (AUS) 14.67 def Pedro Henrique (BRA) 12.63
Heat 12: Jake Paterson (AUS) 11.50 def Guilherme Herdy (BRA) 7.03
Heat 13: Phil MacDonald (AUS) 11.50 def Flavio Costa (BRA) 8.93
Heat 14: Victor Ribas (BRA) 15.00 def Tim Reyes (USA) 9.00
Heat 15: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.50 def Yuri Sodre (BRA) 6.83
Heat 16: Fred Patacchia (HAW) 14.67 def Renan Rocha (BRA) 12.93
Round 4
Heat 1: Kirk Flintoff (AUS) 17.55 def C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.77
Heat 2: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 16.33 def Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.70
Heat 3: Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.53 def Cory Lopez (USA) 12.07
Heat 4: Travis Logie (ZAF) 14.07 def Kelly Slater (USA) 13.66
Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW) 17.10 def Bede Durbridge (AUS) 11.67
Heat 6: Nathan Hedge (AUS) 15.27 def Jake Paterson (AUS) 13.43
Heat 7: Victor Ribas (BRA) 14.26 def Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 13.50
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.50 def Frederick Patacchia Jr (HAW) 11.64
Quarter Finals
Heat 1: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.00 def Kirk Flintoff (AUS) 7.46
Heat 2: Damian Hobgood (USA) 13.27 def Travis Logie (ZAF) 10.83
Heat 3: Nathan Hedge (AUS) 17.70 def Andy Irons (USA) 16.80
Heat 4: Victor Ribas (BRA) 14.33 def Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.70
Semi Finals
Heat 1: Damian Hobgood (USA) 14.23 def Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 8.70
Heat 2: Victor Ribas (BRA) 12.63 def Nathan Hedge (AUS) 10.67
Final
Heat 1: Damian Hobgood (USA) 12.30 def Victor Ribas (BRA) 11.50
Ratings post Brazil
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 7896
2. Andy Irons (HAW) 7260
3. Phil MacDonald (AUS) 6060
4. Mick Fanning (AUS) 6028
5. Damien Hobgood (USA) 5826
6. Trent Munro (AUS) 5618
7. Taj Burrow (AUS) 5512
8. CJ Hobgood (USA) 5248
9. Nathan Hedge (AUS) 5236
10. Cory Lopez (USA) 4960
For the full results and ratings go to www.aspworldtour.com
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