Kiwi surfers Richard Christie and Billy Stairmand (Raglan) have been dominating the ASP World Qualifying Series Quiksilver Saquarema Prime event in Brazil. Overnight both surfers moved through to the Round of 16 surfers.
The event is the first ASP World Qualifying Series Prime rated event of the year, one tier below the ASP World Tour events.
Billy Stairmand has been the top performing surfer of the event with the highest heat total to date – 17.63 points out of a possible 20.
In his most recent match up, Stairmand defeated Brazilians Raoni Monteiro and Bettero Hizunome. Stairmand will now face off in a head-to-head battle against either Raoni Monteiro or Aritz Aranburu, depending on the winner of their match up. Stairmand is currently ranked eighth on the World Qualifying Series.
Christie defeated Matt Banting (Aus) and Chris Ward (USA) in his third round match up and will face Portugals’s Nic Von Rupp in his next. Christie is currently ranked 84th on the World Qualifying Series and will make a significant jump up the rankings regardless of how the rest of the event unfolds.
Christie described feeling stunned after his heat win in Round of 24 over the youngster Matt Banting (AUS) and tour veteran Chris Ward (USA).
“It felt incredible to win the heat over those guys,” said Christie. “Matt (Banting) has been surfing great and is second on the QS rankings, and I’ve been watching Chris Ward surf since I was kid. He’s definitely one of my idols.”
The event waiting period finishes on Sunday night and can be viewed live from 10:30 nightly on Quiksilver Saquarema Pro.