FLORIANOPOLIS, Santa Catarina/Brazil (Sunday, May 23, 2010) – On the decisive heat of the event, Aritz Aranburu took two regular waves to claim the title of Maresia Surf International 2010 in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The Brazilian Rodrigo Dornelles was second place, finalized the 12.67 x 6.67 points in the good waves at Mole Beach in Sunday.

“I’m so happy. It was a very good event for me, we had some pretty hard days and today everything went right to me,” said Aritz Aranburu, who jumped from 60th to the 35th place on the newASP World Rankings. “Unfortunately, we could not get good waves in the final, I did not surf my best, but that was good enough to win. Rodrigo (Dornelles) is a great surfer and was a pleasure to make the final against him. It’s great to win here in Brazil.”

MARESIA SURF INTERNATIONAL RESULTS
FINAL:
1 – Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 12.67
2 – Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 6.67

SEMIFINALS:
SF 1: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.17 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 10.94
SF 2: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 12.40 def. Caio Ibelli (BRA) 11.17

QUARTERFINALS:
QF 1: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 8.77 def. Robson Santos (BRA) 10.94
QF 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 10.90 def. Sebastien Zietz (HAW) 10.33
QF 3: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 9.26 def. Pedro Henrique (BRA) 10.33
QF 4: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.93 def. Leandro Bastos (BRA) 10.33

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UPDATE: Event is ON NOW LIVE

TEAHUPOO, Tahiti (Tuesday, May 19, 2009) – The Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui, event No. 3 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, has called competition on today, with a champion being crowned by day’s end, conditions permitting.

This morning’s surf is running in the three-to-five foot (1- 1.5 metre) range and the opening heats of the day will hit the water at 8:30am.

“We have clear skies and similar sized surf to yesterday and we’ll get competition underway at 8:30am,” Luke Egan, Billabong Pro Tahiti Contest Director, said. “We’re planning on completing the event today, but will monitor the conditions throughout the day to ensure the athletes are run in the best possible surf.”

Yesterday saw the surprise eliminations of reigning nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, and current ASP World No. 1 Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, at the hands of Aritz Aranburu (EUK), 23, and Taylor Knox (USA), 38, respectively.

Still remaining in the event are past Billabong Pro Tahiti winners Damien Hobgood (USA), 29, and Bobby Martinez (USA), 26, as well as former ASP World Champions Mick Fanning (AUS), 27, Andy Irons (HAW), 30, and C.J. Hobgood (USA), 29 – both Irons and Hobgood are also past winners at Teahupoo, with Fanning a former runner-up.

First up this morning, former three-time ASP World Champion and event wildcard Irons will take on Martinez in Heat 5 of Round 3 at the Billabong Pro Tahiti.

Surfline, official foreers for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for a larger SE groundswell to fill in throughout the day as well as some new SW swell building through today and tomorrow.

Today’s Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui will be web LIVE via www.billabongpro.com ning at 8:30am.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

YESTERDAY’S BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 15.50 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 6.17
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.04 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 9.40
Heat 3: Mick Campbell (AUS) 15.07 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 8.50
Heat 4: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.46 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5.57

REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Heat 7: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)
Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Tom Whitaker (AUS)

UPCOMING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
QF 2: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
QF 3: TBA
QF 4: TBA

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