Congratulations to Joel Centeio on his first major ASP WQS win at his home break of Haleiwa in the ASP WQS 6-Star PRIME Reef Hawaiian Pro. Joel’s only previous win was at Sunset Beach in 2007.

Obviously Joel was ecstatic with his $20,000 winner’s cheque and the 3500 points that went with it moved him to 51st on the ratings.

Fellow finalists were CJ Hobgood, who also was not that interested in the ASP WQS points and more wanting the Vans Triple Crown Title. In third was Jay Thompson and fourth Alain Riou.

Jay and Alain definitely wanted the points over money ,and Jay’s third has all but guaranteed him a start in the ASP World Tour next year as he has moved to 6th with 13,638 points. Alain jumped a lot also, but is still back in 26th on 11,082.

The Top 15 cutoff has moved slightly upward from 12,125 to 12,200 and is looking like being around that 12,500 mark.

Current Top 25 on the ratings are:
1 Ross,Daniel AUS 14975 1375
2 Gudauskas,Patrick USA 14876 1625
3 Andre,Jadson BRA 14813 1375
4 Wright,Owen AUS 14338 1225
5 Melling,Adam AUS 14288 1225
6 Thompson,Jay AUS 13638 1125
7 Yeomans,Nathan USA 13419 1225
8 Munro,Luke AUS 13263 1125
9 Simpson,Brett USA 13150 1375
10 Wilkinson,Matt AUS 12850 1300
11 Logie,Travis ZAF 12344 1181
12 Polo,Marco BRA 12331 1156
13 Thornton,Blake AUS 12325 1225
14 Dornelles,Rodrigo BRA 12206 1181
15 Courtney,Drew AUS 12200 1125
16 Gudauskas,Tanner USA 12175 1225
17 Duru,Joan FRA 12125 1375
18 Payne,Dusty HAW 11925 1225
19 Ware,Austin USA 11725 1225
19 Zubizarreta,Gony ESP 11725 1375
21 Atkinson,Dion AUS 11669 1225
22 Miranda,Bernardo BRA 11601 875
23 Hall,Glenn IRL 11600 1500
24 Jackson,Brandon ZAF 11431 1100
25 Cardoso,Willian BRA 11151 1125

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Volcom and ASP* Hawaii are excited to announce Volcom’s first ever ASP-sanctioned professional surfing event: the $120,000 Volcom Pipeline Pro, a 5-star World Qualifying Series event, will open the 2010 professional surfing season on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The event will be held on the three best days of surfing during the January 23 through February 5 period.

The news comes as a major boost for Hawaii’s aspiring pro surfers. Ironically, the birthplace of surfing has suffered in recent years with the weakest of all domestic tours despite offering the world’s premier elite pro surfing series that ends on the North Shore in December each year.

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Patience and faith in his home break of Haleiwa delivered local boy Joel Centeio the biggest victory of his career today, winning the Reef Hawaiian Pro in 6- to 8-foot surf with a late barrel ride and only the mandatory two waves to his credit.

Joel, 26, came from the very first round, winning all seven heats he contested. He now takes an early lead on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink series ratings. His win today earned him $20,000. If he can stay the course and win the Vans Triple Crown series title, it will pay another $50,000 as well as a $10,000 custom Nixon watch.

Runner-up in the final was Florida’s CJ Hobgood, third was Australian Jay “Bottle” Thompson, 27, and fourth was Tahiti’s Alain Riou. Hobgood and Thompson were always within striking distance – requiring less than a 7.0 point ride to turn the tables – but Haleiwa chose to favor her own.

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