Kai Otton Wins the Oakley Saquarema Prime in Brazil

ITAUNA BEACH, Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro / Brazil (Monday, May 30, 2011) – Australian Kai Otton, 31, wins in challenging conditions at the Oakley Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola at Itauna beach. Under sunny skies and consistent 8-10 foot surf (2.5-3.5 meters) on Monday, the Australian goofy-footer held on to defeat local surfer Raoni Monteiro, 29, (BRA) in the Final heat of the ASP World Prime at the left-hand point break at Saquarema, Brazil.

Kai Otton began the match-up scoring 6.83 points on his first wave, but Raoni Monteiro quickly followed with a 7.33 out of a possible 10 points. With 14 minutes remaining in the heat, Kai Otton was able to find a right-hander and pull out an 8.60 to take the lead. Raoni Monteiro paddled into a wave and surfed it as hard as he could, but could not get the score he needed and Kai Otton won by half a point: 15.43 to 14.93 points.

“It was incredible! I’m so stoked,” said Kai Otton. “I had to surf with a borrowed board because I didn’t bring anything big enough for these types of waves and in the end, everything worked out. Saquarema has the best waves I’ve ever surfed in Brazil and I don’t understand why the ASP World Tour isn’t here. The days here were fantastic and I’m really happy to have won this event.”

With his victory at the Oakley Saquarema Prime in Brazil, Kai Otton won U$ 40,000 and 6,500 points moving him up to No. 38 of the ASP World Ranking. That still leaves him outside the bubble for qualification after the mid-year rotation, but much closer than his former position at No. 56.

Raoni Monteiro’s second-place finish also pushes him up the list to No. 25 in the ASP World Ranking after earning 5,200 points and U$ 20,000.

“I’ve never made it to a Final before at Saquarema,” said an emotional Raoni Monteiro. “I really wanted to win and please all of these people here cheering for me. I had won some heats in the final seconds and it almost happened again in the Final, it was close. But Kai Otton surfed more waves than I did, got better scores and deserved the victory. I’m still happy to have represented Saquarema and this gives me fuel for the rest of the year.”

While Raoni Monteiro and all of his fans on the beach were upset with the final score, Kai Otton and the Australian contingent went ballistic.

“I was really nervous waiting for the score to come through,” said Kai Otton. “I knew that he had caught a good one and that he could’ve gotten the score. During the entire heat I knew that Raoni (Monteiro) would come on strong and have the support of the crowd. I knew I needed good scores to win since he’s such a tough competitor.”

The Coca-Cola presents Oakley Saquarema Prime 2011 is sponsored by Coca-Cola and Oakley with support from the State of Rio de Janeiro through the Secretary of Sport and Leisure, the City of Saquarema, CCR and the Surfing Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Next up is the SuperSurf Internacional Prime at Praia da Vila, Imbituba-Santa Catarina, Brazil starting Tuesday, May 31st and ends Sunday, June 5th 2011.

Oakley Saquarema Prime Final Result:
1 - Kai Otton (AUS) – 15.43 points
2 - Raoni Monteiro (BRA) – 14.93 points

Oakley Saquarema Prime Semifinals Results
SF 1: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 14.70 def 10.84 Yadin Nicol (AUS)
SF 2: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.27 def 5.04 Willian Cardoso (BRA)

QF 1: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 15.63 vs 12.10 Gabriel Medina (BRA)
QF 2: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 14.04 vs 12.10 Lincoln Taylor (AUS)
QF 3: Willian Cardoso (BRA) 10.53 vs 9.50 Adam Robertson (AUS)
QF 4: Kai Otton (AUS) 13.60 vs 11.40 Jesse Mendes (BRA)

Oakley Saquarema Prime Round of 12 Results:
Heat 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 14.50 def 12.43 Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 2: Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 11.23 def 10.60 Junior Faria (BRA)
Heat 3: Adam Robertson (AUS) 13.17 def 9.00 Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 4: Kai Otton (AUS) 9.67 def 5.63 Damien Hobgood (USA)

by ASPworldtour.com