Padaratz Rides Wild-Card Berth All the Way to Championship

They’re a tight crew, the Brazilians. So when Neco Padaratz and Fabio Gouveia advanced to the men’s surfing final of the Gotcha Pro in Huntington Beach, Sunday, it was a victory even before the heat started.

“I can’t express how much this means to me, and to Fabio,” said Padaratz, who won the title with a score of 22.50. “I wake up early every day to surf and work hard. There was a lot of motivation and support for me here. So when I come here, to Huntington Beach, and win, it means a lot to me and Brazil.”

Padaratz, who was playing hide-and-go-seek much of the week with the press, was talking Sunday as he and countryman Gouveia accomplished what no other Brazilian surfer has ever done: win a World Championship Tour event on the United States mainland, and compete in a all-Brazilian championship final of a WCT event.

Gouveia, who advanced to the finals after beating Kelly Slater in the quarterfinals and Victor Ribas in the semifinals, finished with a score of 19.20.

“Of course I wanted to win,” Gouveia said. “But when I saw the Brazilian flag waving in the crowd, and all those people cheering for me, I was happy for Padaratz and my country.”

Calling it “Garra,” a term that means Brazilian pride, Gouveia said he hopes the win, and the way his countrymen are performing on the tour, will help convince people that the Brazilians are for real.

“You don’t see [Brazilian surfers] too much in the surf magazines,” said Padaratz, who qualified for the Gotcha Pro as a wild-card by winning the U.S. Open. “I hope that the way we try, and work hard, that we will be treated like any other surfer on the tour and that we get the respect we deserve.”

Padaratz said that his exit from the tour last year was because of gastric problems, and not personal problems as reported before.

“There was a lot of stress and I was eating all kinds of food,” he said. “So I got ill and I had to get off the tour. But I’m OK now.”

Now eager to get back on the world tour, Padaratz defeated top-ranked Mark Occhilupo earlier in the week and went on to beat Hawaiian Sunny Garcia in the semifinals Sunday.

“Sunny is a good surfer,” said Padaratz, who won $15,000. “But I think I’m ready to get back on the tour.”

During the final heat, Padaratz performed most of his work near the shore. Although the surf was small Padaratz made it work, scoring 8.75, 7.75 and 6.76 on his three best waves.

While Garcia lost to Padaratz in the semifinals, he still got 730 points for finishing third. As a result, Garcia has moved into second place in the WCT rankings, only 150 points behind Occhilupo.

“I’m not at all upset about my performance,” said Garcia, who eliminated Shea Lopez of Dana Point in the quarterfinals. “Last year, I was thinking about retiring. But this year, with the way Occhilupo is doing, and [veteran Tom Curren] doing so well, I think I still have a few years left.”