Santa Barbara’s Tom Curren is keeping the competitive torch aflame after competing in last week’s U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. The 46-year-old former World Champion made the trip to Portugal’s Azores Islands to compete in this week’s Billabong Azores Islands Pro, where he surfed through to the second round on Wednesday.
Tom Curren at last week's U.S. Open.
Curren, who was ousted in the first round in Huntington, placed second in his opening-round heat, securing a spot in the second round. Fifteen first-round heats played out in tiny two foot surf on Wednesday.
Kilian Garland, who has won the Rincon Classic here in Santa Barbara multiple times, also made the trip to the warm-water archipelago, but couldn’t survive his first heat with a two-wave point total of 6.80. It was the seventh ASP Prime rated event that Garland, currently holding the No. 208 World Ranking, has surfed in so far this year.
Curren continues on to face Aritz Aranburu, Royden Bryson and Mitch Coleborn in the second round.
Also present in at the Billabong Azores Islands Pro is Brett Simpson, coming off his second consecutive title at the U.S. Open of Surfing. A live webcast is available through ASPeurope.com.
REMAINING BILLABONG AZORES ISLANDS PRO ROUND ONE MATCH-UPS
Heat 16: Kiron Jabour (BRA), Casey Brown (HAW), Jean Da Silva (BRA), Cheyne Willis (HAW)
UPCOMING BILLABONG AZORES ISLANDS PRO ROUND TWO MATCH-UPS
Heat 1: Chris Davidson (AUS), Romain Cloitre (FRA), Mickey Picon (FRA), Ruben Gonzalez (PRT)
Heat 2: Aritz Aranburu (EUK), Royden Bryson (ZAF), Tom Curren (USA), Mitch Coleborn (AUS)
Heat 3: Marco Polo (BRA), Dyyan Neve (AUS), Gustavo Fernandes (BRA), Ruda Carvalho (BRA)
Heat 4: Nate Yeomans (USA), Shaun Cansdell (AUS), Junior Faria (BRA), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY)
Heat 5: Pat Gudauskas (USA), Hodei Collazo (EUK), Jayke Sharp (AUS), Omer Bar (ISR)
Heat 6: William Cardoso (BRA), Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA), David Weare (ZAF), Shaun Joubert (ZAF)
Heat 7: Raoni Monteiro (BRA), Gabriel Medina (BRA), Kai Barger (HAW), Granger Larsen (HAW)
Heat 8: Mick Campbell (AUS), Leonardo Neves (BRA), Alain Riou (PYF), Andre Silva (BRA)
Heat 9: Tanner Gadauskas (USA), Nathan Hedge (AUS), Pablo Paulino (BRA), Jack Perry (AUS)
Heat 10: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA), John John Florence (HAW), Luke Egan (AUS), Eneko Acero (EUK)
Heat 11: Josh Kerr (AUS), Nic Muscroft (AUS), Ricky Basnett (ZAF), Marlon Lipke (DEU)
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Nat Young (USA), Jeronimo Vargas (BRA), Jihad Khodr (BRA)
Heat 13: Brett Simpson (USA), Yuri Sodre (BRA), Brandon Jackson (ZAF), Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 14: Joan Duru (FRA), Nathaniel Curran (USA), Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Jay Quinn (NZL)
Heat 15: Heitor Alves (BRA), Austin Ware (USA), Joao Guedes (PRT), Billy Stairmand (NZL)
Heat 16: Neco Padaratz (BRA), Marco Giorgi (URY), Diego Rosa (BRA), Kieran Horn (USA)
Heat 17: Ben Dunn (AUS), Rudy Palmboom (ZAF), Pedro Henrique (BRA), Bernardo Miranda (BRA)
Heat 18: Alejo Muniz (BRA), Dylan Graves (PRI), Tiago Camarao (BRA), Kevin Sullivan (HAW)
Heat 19: Gabe Kling (USA), Stuart Kennedy (AUS), Oli Adams (GBR), Brent Dorrington (AUS)
Heat 20: Travis Logie (ZAF), Lincoln Taylor (AUS), Messias Felix (BRA), Gony Zubizarreta (ESP)
Heat 21: Jay Thompson (AUS), Glen Hall (IRL), Adam Robertson (AUS), Tomas Hermes (BRA)
Heat 22: Blake Thorton (AUS), Yadin Nicol (AUS), Marc Lacomare (FRA), Brian Toth (PRI)
BILLABONG AZORES ISLANDS PRO ROUND ONE RESULTS
Heat 1: Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) 10.00, Tom Curren (USA) 9.63, Hugo Savalli (REU) 9.33, Alexander El Naib (DEU) 0.69
Heat 2: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 11.50, Ruda Carvalho (BRA) 9.76, Andre Teixeira (BRA) 7.43, Anthony Walsh (AUS) 6.46
Heat 3: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 14.00, Omer Bar (ISR) 8.53, Killian Garland (USA) 6.80, Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 2.00
Heat 4: David Weare (ZAF) 13.07, Kai Barger (HAW) 12.13, Richard Christie (NZL) 10.60, Joackim Petersen Guichard (NOR) 7.77
Heat 5: Granger Larsen (HAW) 15.17, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 8.70, Luca Petersen Guichard (NOR) 8.63, Dede Suryana (IDN) 7.04
Heat 6: Andre Silva (BRA) 13.10, Jack Perry (AUS) 11.80, Rhys Bombaci (AUS) 11.17, Dane Gudauskas (USA) 7.33
Heat 7: Eneko Acero (EUK) 12.60, Ricky Basnett (ZAF) 11.73, Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 9.43
Heat 8: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 12.27, Jihad Khodr (BRA) 11.06, Alan Stokes (GBR) 10.07, Robertson Goncalves (PRT) 5.87
Heat 9: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 15.26, Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 11.06, Jorge Spanner (BRA) 10.03, Devan MacNicol (ZAF) 5.30
Heat 10: Jay Quinn (NZL) 12.00, Billy Stairmand (NZL) 10.20, Masatoshi Ohno (JPN) 9.87, Paulo Moura (BRA) 7.14
Heat 11: Kieran Horn (USA) 11.50, Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 8.33, Jay Davies (AUS) 7.27, Brendon Gibbens (ZAF) 6.40
Heat 12: Tiago Camarao (BRA) 11.70, Oli Adams (GBR) 11.33, Brad Ettinger (USA) 9.70, Parrish Byrne (AUS) 8.40
Heat 13: Brent Dorrington (AUS) 12.40, Kevin Sullivan (HAW) 9.43, Gregory Weatherall (NZL) 4.03
Heat 14: Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 14.63, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 13.17, Madison Williams (AUS) 9.40, Manuel Selman (CHL) 6.96
Heat 15: Brian Toth (PRI) 10.66, Cory Ziems (AUS) 9.23, Heath Joske (AUS) 8.70, Romain Laulhe (FRA) 7.24
