*** Official Haleiwa Challenger Contest Thread ***

oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
6,931
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San Diego, CA
D0610555-F06B-4EF5-A3B4-D1DBE473D0A4.jpeg
Thoughts?
couple retreads in the mix. I guess you gotta respect the persistence of these guys that keep yoyoing between CT and QS
 
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Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,990
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PNW
View attachment 143320
Thoughts?
couple retreads in the mix. I guess you gotta respect the persistence of these guys that keep yoyoing between CT and QS
Stocked to see R Cal back. Duu shreds. Cool to see the Indo guy Rio on tour but I haven't seen him surf a ton. All the Euro dudes are pretty boring to me especially Leo. Gotta hand it to him though, he's been through it with injuries and he doesn't give up. I'm a fan of Zeke's surfing so hopefully he can find some success on tour.

My greatest hope is that JJF stays healthy and dominates the fck out of everyone this year.
 

jkb

Tom Curren status
Feb 22, 2005
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Central California
My prediction is Leo, Maxine, Ramzi, and Zeke will be back on the challenger series next year.

I know nothing about Ian Gentil.

Rio is going to turn some heads when it's smaller and give Flippy a run for his money when it comes to being the quickest surfer on tour.
 

Bob Dobbalina

Miki Dora status
Feb 23, 2016
4,261
4,656
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My prediction is Leo, Maxine, Ramzi, and Zeke will be back on the challenger series next year.

I know nothing about Ian Gentil.

Rio is going to turn some heads when it's smaller and give Flippy a run for his money when it comes to being the quickest surfer on tour.

I predict most of this crop will be needing to requalify.

According to my recollection, which was mostly gossip and rumor:
Ian was a young phenom around 12-16 if memory serves. He was marked as "best grom in the world" by more than one person (a la Jeremy Flores at the same age). He had an incredible style for a kid his age and had all the markings for a future as a pro surfer, including a family capable of financially supporting the dream (I think his family is Brazilian but he was born/raised in Maui. I want to say they owned a water park(s) in Brazil. So, yeah, another Maui kid with wealthy parents that doesn't really have to do anything. shocker. But I've never heard anyone with a bad word to say about him.He may have been one of the Nike 6.0 kids, and when they dissolved their team, he didn't get grabbed by anyone. He had kind of plateaued at the time between incredible grom and "just another nice guy ripping surfer" and, to me, was adjusting to being significantly taller.

Someone told me he lost a sister somewhere along his "comeback".

This was part of his "comeback" interview in 2016

Sometimes he reminds of a better Caio Ibelli. Take that as you will.
 
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