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Today at Middles beach on the northwest coast of P.R. Darren Muschett (24) of Rincon won the Corona Extra Pro Surf Circuit event in an exciting man on man final against Crlos Cabrero (33) of San Juan. Unfortunatly, a diminishing swell forced both finalist into their small wave competition repertore. Utilizing either either luck or brilliant strategy, Mushett was able to score opening rides of 5.67 and 7.50 in the opening 5 minutes of the final, forcing Cabrero to play catch-up. The experienced Cabrero who is the 2008 defending Corona Extra Pro Surfing Circuit champion is relentless in that mode . He chipped away at mushett's lead for the remaining 25 minutes notching a wave count of ten rides to Mushett's 3.However, Cabrero's come back fell short by two points as conditions continued to deteriorate in the afternoon winds.
On the awards podium, Cabrero was gracious in defeat as he also took away the $500.00 coppertone "Best Performance" award for his third round heat total of 16.54 (out of a possible 20). Mushett was genuinely pleased and mentioned that the new wider surfboard he was riding gave him good maneuverability in the small (1meter) conditions.
Placing equal third were Leslie Bursian (22) of San Juan and returning veteran Fernando Álvarez (33) of Caguas who surfed brilliantly in a long delayed return to competition to bring home $500 and 730 pts for the rankings.
In all 48 athletes contested the men's division, dominated by the local Puerto Rican surfers. High finished among the mainland contingent was David Halloway of Jacksonville, Florida who fell victim to Leslie Bursian in the quarters finals.
On the women's side of the competition Idalys "Lilac" Alvarado took her first carreer APSPR victory over her fellow puertorican finalist Liselie Gonzalez in a nail-biting final that saw the lead see-saw back and forth between the two for the full 30 minutes final, indeed, Gonzalez used all of her 12 wave allistment finishing her last ride with only one minute remaining, but falling short by a razor-thin margin of .07 points. When announcer Jorge González comfirmed that the victory belonged to Alvarado she displayed her girlish enthusiasm in the water and returned to shore and the greetings of dozens of her cheering supporters. Alvarado had already survived a squeaker in the semi-final against the highest placing mainland female, Maria Kuzmovich (23) of Daytona Beach, Florida. Also placing equal 3rd veteran island pro, Liza Caban (16) of Aguadilla, PR.
The winner of the $500.00 Coppertone "Best Performance" for the mujeres was Leslie Gonzalez The points totals for the 2009 middles event add up to the Corona Extra Pro Surf Circuit championship to be decided at Domes in March 2010.
Check out the Video on demand, showing action clips of each day's competition on the event website, www.apspr.net.
In addition to Corona Extra and Corona Light, the other sponsors of the Middles event are:
Alfa Rock, WAPA, Primera Hora, Direct TV, Jose Cuervo, Right Guard, Surfers Village, Hang Loose Surf Shop, Werner Vega Surfboards and Coppertone.
Media:
Visit the media center on www.apspr.net for images, surfer quotes, archived press releases and athlete profiles. Downloadable audio clips and TV news feed also available.
For more inf. contact:
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Mike Martin
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