Monday November 20 2006: Immediate Release
Philippine surfers apply the heat to World Champion Constable.
Quarter Finalists decided in Philippines with Top Seeds all Dominant
A big crowd of enthusiastic locals from the surrounding villages at Lanuza Bay turned out to watch current world longboard champion Josh Constable (Australia) in his first official appearance in round three of the Lanuza International Longboard.
On a dieing small swell Constable faced three Philippine opponents and they made sure the world champ found no free rides or easy passage through to the quarter finals.
Fifteen minutes into the heat Constable was trailing all his opponents who used their local knowledge superbly and also showed their great skills to post some very respectable 5 to 6 point rides in these conditions and there was a sense of a massive upset about to occur.
However, Constable's experience shone through and when the champ finally stroked into a decent wave he displayed all his powerful moves to score a solid 6 point ride and shortly after found the best wave of the day to score an outstanding 9 point ride and easily win through.
Constable displayed his trademark powered approach on his nine point ride as he executed a series of precise bottom turns into top turn floaters across the crumbly 0.5m sections along with some good scoring nose ride sections.
"It's always a relief to get a win in your first heat. The Philippine surfers have really surprised me with their quality both the longboarders and the shortboarders who are free surfing each morning with us. I sense there are so many excellent waves for these locals and with the ideal climate I'd expect it won't be too long before we see some of them professionally surfing the world tours!"
Constable's heat, while he eventually won it easily, was probably the closest heat of round three with all the top seeds putting on class performances to all easily progress to the quarters.
Winners today included, number two seed Harley Ingelby (current world number 3 rated surfer), Michael Bellamy, Dane Pioli, Grant Thomas and Jackson Close, all from Australia and all world rated professionals.
Two Philippine surfers also progressed to the quarter finals and both surfers, Ian and Luke Langdregan (La Union), showed enough skill and style to ensure they'll be well in contention in the quarter finals.
The other highly rated seeded surfers to progress to the quarters were Ian Bell, Jai Lee and Jacob Struth which sets the scene for some great quarter finals.
The swell certainly dropped today and a study of the location and swell charts indicates the event is likely to be suffering from the same flat spell that is presently hitting Hawaii. Lanuza Bay lies on the north east corner of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and appears to get an off shoot of the North Pacific swells that directly hit Hawaii but with little action throughout the Pacific ocean the surfers have had to adapt as best as possible to the small waves.
The other highlight of the day was the amazing surfing performance from popular Philippine surfer Ronnie. Ronnie was born with just one leg, but such is his love of surfing that his disability has not stopped him at all.
Ronnie won his opening two rounds and certainly impressed all the visiting professionals with his charging attitude and his quality smooth surfing style.
Harley Ingelby (Australia), who recently placed 3rd in the ISA World Surfing Games commented on Ronnie today saying, "Some of his moves, including a helicopter 360 were incredible. I don't know how he does it but he's certainly a very accomplished surfer and he has all our respect!"
Everyone has their fingers crossed for bigger waves for the final six heats of this great international event and with two days left to run organizers will do their best to finish in the best possible waves.
Daily Press Releases along with high quality digital images will be dispersed throughout the event.
A post event gallery of images will also be available along with an event wrap up press release.
