Marlon Lipke won the last stage of the Algarve Surf Circuit 2013 in the Open category, held on December 21st and 22nd in Portimão.
The athlete from Lagos, registered by the Surf Club of Faro, confirmed its status as the headliner in this competition and imposed itself on the strong competition of several competitors of international dimension, which provided an authentic surfing spectacle in Praia da Rocha.
Francisco Duarte won the U-16 final and renewed his title of circuit champion in this category.
Francisco Canelas, even though defeated at first in this competition, benefited from the elimination of his most direct opponents in the ranking and was crowned Open champion of the circuit.
The Algarve Surf Circuit 2013 thus closed with a luxury competition in Praia da Rocha, organized by the surf school Playsurf and Yacht Club Marina de Portimão, with the support of the Municipality of Portimão, L'Angolo (Alvor) restaurant and Guys&Dolls store.
With XNUMX meter waves on the set, although closing a little and with a slight offshore wind, Praia da Rocha dressed up to receive a luxury Brazilian surf cast, including two former WCTs (Marlon Lipke and Pedro Henrique) and professionals with Eduardo Fernandes, Joackim Guichard and Miguel Mouzinho.
On the first day, the competition in the Longboard, Women, Under-14 and Under-12 categories had already been resolved.
On the second day of the event, the whole journey was dedicated to the final stages of the Open, with the exception of the U-16 final, disputed by the best hopes in the Algarve today: Francisco Duarte, Martim Magalhães, Jakob Lilienweiss and José Montez.
Very focused and with visible technical improvements in attacking the wave's critic, as a result of training started this season at Surftechnique, Francisco Duarte took the favoritism and won a very well disputed U-16 final.
Francisco Duarte was still fighting for the Open title, for which he needed a third place in the competition, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals, even though he did not agree with the judgment.
After the two strongest contenders for the title - Francisco Canelas (leader) and Paulo Alcobia (vice-leader) - were eliminated the day before. At first, Tomás Alcobia also had a chance of winning the Open title on the circuit, but he needed to win the race.
The athlete from Lagos was eliminated in the semi-finals and Francisco Canelas celebrated his title victory out of the water.
The final phase of the Open stage played on the 22nd at Praia da Rocha was an authentic battle of titans. Pedro Henrique's exuberance, always exciting on the waves and showing why he was already a junior world champion, was not enough to make it through the semi-finals.
In the final, Joackim Guichard (winner of the 2nd Stage, at Praia da Cordoama, in May) gave a show, and Eduardo Fernandes (winner of this event in 2012) even made a showy aerial, but it was the duel between friends Miguel Mouzinho and Marlon Lipke who truly marked the surfing journey in Portimão.
Mouzinho presented himself in this race with no chance of renewing the title he won four consecutive times on this circuit. The athlete from Lagos was left with having fun on the waves and training in a competitive environment with top athletes.
He won a first duel with Marlon Lipke in the semi-finals, but lost to his friend in the final, in a dispute so close that it might have been in his favor if he hadn't fallen in the last wave.
Marlon Lipke, despite feeling tired due to the current four-hour daily training regime, won this last stage of the Algarve Surf Circuit 2013, the only one he participated in.
Always safe in his heats, without risking too much and surgical in the need to score, Marlon showed all his competitive experience and superior technical level, winning in all fairness.
This is an athlete who won the last stage of the Moche League and travels the WQS circuit, as well as, as he told the Swell-Algarve, an athlete who has a single goal for the next season: “I want to qualify for the WCT”.
The Algarve Surf Circuit 2014 starts in two weeks, on the 4th and 5th of January, at Praia de Faro, in a race that will also include a stage of the national Longboard.
The Algarve Surf Circuit 2014 starts earlier and ends earlier, rehearsing the new calendar on which qualification for surfing national through regional circuits can be based in the future.
It won't be in 2014, but the Algarve Surf Circuit prepared for the change and changed its calendar. Thus, the 1st Stage in 2014 will be played as early as January (4th and 5th) in Faro, the 2nd in February (Quarteira), the 3rd in March (Praia da Rocha) and the 4th in May (Praia do Amado).
4th Stage Finals (Praia da Rocha) – Algarve Surf Circuit 2013
Open
1. Marlon Lipke (Lagos, CS)Faro)
2. Miguel Mouzinho (Lagos)
3. Eduardo Fernandes (Carcavelos)
4. Joackin Guichard (Tavira)
Sub-16
1. Francisco Duarte (Portimão) – champion 2013
2. Jakob Lilienweiss (Tavira)
3. Martim Magalhães (Portimão)
4. José Montez (Portimão)
Sub-14
1. Guilherme Ribeiro (Caparica) – champion 2013
2. Bruno Gregorio (Quarteira)
3. Tomás Ribeiro (Caparica)
4. Miguel Braga
Sub-12
1. Guilherme Ribeiro (Caparica) – champion 2013
2. Henrique Littlechinho (Portimão)
3. Diogo Pereira (Portimão)
4. Michael Pereira (Vilamoura)
Female
1. Yolanda Sequeira-Hopkins (Portimão) – champion 2013
2. Nádia 'Cachuxa' Reis (Portimão)
3. Inês Martins (Faro)
4. Maisa Trindade (Portimão)
Longboard
1. Manuel 'Necas' Mestre (Faro)
2. Luís Esteves (Faro) - champion 2013
3. Inês Martins (Faro)
Text and photos: Paulo Marcelino
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