COSTA RICA FINISHES 7 TH AT THE

BILLABONG ISA WORLD SURFING GAMES COSTA RICA 2009

Ver los fotos en la galeria - photo gallery

Playa Hermosa, COSTA RICA August 8, 2009 - With Jason Torres of Jaco finishing up his run in the final of the repercharge Rounds, Costa Rica took leave of the Billabong International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Game Costa Rica 2009 yesterday afternoon at Playa Hermosa. In doing so, they finalize their appearance in what has become known as the Olympics of Surfing with a 7 th place finish, a position that the Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica is more than happy with considering the star power of surfers that has attended this year's event.

"Overall it feels good," said José Ureña, President of Federacion de Surf de Costa Rica and head of the Technical Body of the Costa Rica National Surf Team. "We learned a lot. They tried a lot of new things like sports psychology, physical therapy and it was a whole new level with a personal trainer. To be honest, they did even better than it seems because of the level of surfers who showed up and the quantity of teams. I'm super proud of them. They did a good job and it makes me feel good for the future."

Earlier in the morning, Esterillos' Carlos Muñoz, had entered Round 7 of repercharge in another semifinal facing Jeremy Flores of France, Brandon Jackson of South Africa and Austin Ware of the USA. The 16-year-old held his own in the swell, which had picked up to 4- to 6-foot barrels, even going first, and extreme in a right barrel, but for want of a better second wave, he remained in 4 th place. 1 st place went to Jackson and Flores took 2 nd withWare placing 3 rd .

"I'm sad, but happy," Muñoz said. "In the next World Surfing Games I'm going to do better."

First thing in the morning, Torres surfed the qualifier round 5 and lost 4 th place to USA Cory Lope at 1 st , 2 nd to Gabriel Villaran of Peru and 3 rd to Joel Centeio of Hawaii. He went to repercharge.

Torres, however, put on a spectacular show in repercharge. Faced again by Flores, he gave the the public a dose of adrenalin when he overtook the Frenchmen in the last minutes. According to the ISA: "Throughout the event, Torres has been ripping apart the peaks with seamless fluidity. Running on all cylinders and throwing some jaw-ping fins-free whips and punts, throughout his heats, To be blunt, this kid is impressive."

In repercharge Round 9, the finals, Torres surfed hard as well, but this time lost to the Frenchman Flores and Jackson, who came in 1st, and 2nd, respectively. Torres was 3rd.

"It's really hard to surf against some of these guys. We (Team Costa Rica) have worked so hard to get here," explained Torres afterward. "I thank God for us being here."

With a 7th place finish in these Billabong ISA World Surfing Games Costa Rica 2009, the Costa Rica team assures itself a place in the Aloha Games, the Tag Team participation in the next World Surfing Games, which is likely to be confirmed for Peru this next October 2010.

Today, the most anticipated day of the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games comes to an end, Look for teams from the United States and Hawaii to fight for 1st place and the gold medal. In addition, the Tag Team competition will have its finals between New Zealand, Peru, Tahiti and Australia.

Top 10 As of Friday August 7

1- United States                               17.190

2- France                                               14.440

3- Hawaii                                 13.358

4- South Africa                         12.508

5- Perú                                     12.120

6- Australia                             12.110

7- Costa Rica                          9.650

8- Venezuela                         9.040

9- Brasil                                    9.000

10- Puerto Rico                       8.820

Costa Rica Rankings

Open

- Jason Torres          7th

- Carlos Muñoz        13th  

- Gilbert Brown      21st

- Luis Vindas             33rd

Women's

- Lisbeth Vindas 11th

- Natalie Bernold    15th

Longboard         

- Anthony Flores 29th

- Diego Naranjo    33rd

FINAL Team Results:
? GOLD - United States - 14910 points
? SILVER - France - 13280 points
? BRONZE - Australia - 10996 points
? COPPER - Hawaii - 10856 points ??

INDIVIDUAL FINAL RESULTS ?

Open Men
? Gold: Jeremy Flores (FRA)
? Silver: Cory Lopez (USA)
? Bronze: Gabriel VIllarán (PER)
? Copper: Ben Bourgeois (USA)

Open Women
? Gold: Courtney Conlogue (USA)
? Silver: Rosanne Hodge (RSA)
? Copper: Sage Erickson (USA)
? Bronze: Pauline Ado (FRA)

Longboard
  Gold: Antoine Delpero (FRA)
? Silver: Harley Ingleby (AUS)
? Copper: Ben Skinner (GBR)
? Bronze: Tony Silvagni (USA) 

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1 - USA - 14910 points
2 - France - 13280 points
3 - Australia - 10996 points
4 - Hawaii - 10856 points
5 - South Africa - 10666 points
6 - Peru - 10180 points
7 - Costa Rica - 9650 points
8 - Venezuela - 9040 points
9 - Brazil - 9000 points
10 - Puerto Rico - 8820 points
11 - New Zealand - 8100 points
12 - Argentina - 7160 points
13 - Tahiti - 6688 points
14 - Ecuador - 6170 points
15 - Panama - 5952 points
16 - Italy - 5670 points
17 - Mexico - 5560 points
18 - Japan - 5324 points
19 - Chile - 5208 points
20 - El Salvador - 4784 points
21 - Ireland - 4568 points
22 - Austria - 4320 points
23 - Barbados - 4128 points
24 - Germany - 4024 points
25 - UK- 3810 points
26 - Guatemala - 3696 points
27 - Switzerland - 3440 points
28 - Jamaica - 2912 points
29 - Canada - 2784 points
30 - Nicaragua - 2656 points
31 - Colombia 2544 points
32 - Trinidad & Tobago - 2240 points
33 - Bahamas 2240 points
34 - Rep. Dominican - 1680 points
35 - Aruba- 384 points