La Cicer, Gran Canaria (Friday, May 18, 2012) ? Improved conditions made for a full day of exciting surfing on day 3 of the ASP 3-Star Gran Canaria Santa Pro Junior. An incoming swell in the 3-4Ft range and lighter winds today at La Cicer allowed the event to run through two full rounds of competition. Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 18, was the in-form surfer of the day, showing power and progressive surfing were the key scoring factors today.
Ribeiro, Gran Canaria Santa Pro Junior defending champion, came out firing in his Round of 32 match-up, netting the highest single wave score of the event so far, an excellent 8.17 out of 10. Pushing hard on his every turn, Vasco Ribeiro looked unstoppable from the first minutes of the confrontation.
“The conditions are really hard and I knew the heat was going to be tough with all the other guys in form”, Ribeiro said. “My goal was to go out there and get two good waves in the beginning to get the pressure off. I’m happy I got through and am already thinking about the next round, hopefully the waves will get a little better tomorrow. My approach is different on every wave, if you can only do one turn you got to go big, and there’s also some little ones which you can fit two turns on really fast. Those ones are the ones getting big scores !”
Ribeiro, who finished third on the European Junior rankings in 2011, has seen his closest competition William Aliotti (FRA) stopped in his first heat in the biggest upset of the day. Becoming the legitimate number one in this 2012 edition, Vasco Ribeiro stays focus on the long road still ahead of him.
“Not really feeling anymore pressure, I’m just trying to have fun and get some good waves.. Of course this year my goal is the European Title but I’m trying to not think too much about it and concentrate on my surfing.”
With the completion of the third round this afternoon, only 16 surfers still have a shot at the Gran Canaria Santa Pro Junior event win and despite having had a fantastic start to his 2012 campaign outside Europe, Vasco Ribeiro will have to maintain his consistency throughout the remaining battles coming up tomorrow.
“I’ll have to be at my best in every heat now because everyone else is surfing so incredibly well” stated Vasco. “I don’t think there’s one bigger threat than another, there are many guys that can win the event like Frederico (Morais), Ramzi (Boukhiam), Dimitri (Ouvre), they’re all used to do finals in past events so they’re the one you want to beat, and hopefully doing my best will get me a good result.”
Vicente Romero (ESP) 19, confirmed his excellent run through the event today, winning both his Round 2 and 3 matchups against seasoned European competitors. Romero continued to impress in bigger waves today with an incredible style and flow consistantly posting scores in the good range.
“I just went out there to have fun and do my best” Romero said. “I’ve been training a lot for this first event which I think is the most important on the Junior Tour. I’m feeling really confident and in form, and I have a positive mindset that’s how I think I got through these rounds.”
For his first time competing in Gran Canaria, Vicente Romero has been able to find the right waves in all his confrontations and managed to showcase his abilities. A trained beachbreak surfer coming from Brazil, Romero explains his wins by good tactics and a strong determination.
“I’ve been looking at all the heats before mine to try and find the best spot, and as I said I’m in the right mood to enjoy myself and perform, that’s pretty much my secret. I’ll keep applying the same tactics, and obviously I came here to win, you know I don’t have sponsors at the moment so this is a pretty big opportunity for me !”
Another great performer today was local hero Luis Diaz (CNY), only 13 years old and already a strong competitor. Despite coming third and missing out on the qualification in his third round match-up, Diaz made the local public go wild on each of his waves and came up just short of a small score to get through.
“I was up against the top seeds and it just wasn’t going to be easy but I am really happy with the result” Diaz said. “I am going to try and go to more Pro Junior events during the year but we’ll see. I really enjoyed surfing in front of my home crowd and the pressure didn’t get to me at all. It was a good experience for me and a shame I couldn’t get through this heat but it was really good fun.”
Tomorrow the remaining competitors will gather at 10am for the first Call by event officials. Considering the forecast for the weekend, there’s a strong chance of seeing the event’s champion crowned tomorrow Saturday, May 19.
The 2012 Gran Canaria Santa Pro Junior will run from May 16-20 at La Cicer, Gran Canaria / Canary Islands. For more information, and all results, photos, video highlights, and press releases log-on to www.grancanaria.aspeurope.com
For any other media related information, contact us via www.aspeurope.com
The Gran Canaria Santa Pro Junior is made possible with the support of the following event partners: La Santa Surf, the Consejería de Turismo del Gobierno de Canarias, the Patronato de Turismo del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, the Concejalía de Turismo del Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Hotel Best Western Cantur. Also an extended thanks to Halcón Viajes, Armas, InterSport, Café Central y Oceanside, Cajasiete amongst others.
UPCOMING GRAN CANARIA SANTA PRO JUNIOR RD OF 16 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Gaspard Larsonneur (FRA), Tom Cloarec (FRA), Ian Fontaine (FRA), Marcelino Botin (ESP) Heat 2: Dimitri Ouvre (GLP), Charly Termeau (FRA), Vicente Romero (ESP), George Picking (GBR) Heat 3: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Alex Gironi (EUK), Jorgann Couzinet (REU), Luis Eyre (GBR) Heat 4: Frederico Morais (PRT), Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Jose Ferreira (PRT), Kieran Bulard (REU)
GRAN CANARIA SANTA PRO JUNIOR RD OF 32 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Gaspard Larsonneur (FRA) 10.66, Charly Termeau (FRA) 7.77, Harry Timson (GBR) 6.27, Luke Dillon (GBR) 5.40 Heat 2: Ian Fontaine (FRA) 8.47, George Picking (GBR) 8.30, Luis Diaz (CNY) 7.90, Remi Petersen (NLD), 7.27 Heat 3: Dimitri Ouvre (GLP) 11.50, Tom Cloarec (FRA) 10.00, Simon Sew-Heng ((REU) 6.10, Miguel Blanco (PRT) 5.30 Heat 4: Vicente Romero (ESP) 12.36, Marcelino Botin (ESP) 9.63, Nomme Mignot (FRA) 7.34, Josh Piper (GBR) 5.13 Heat 5: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 13.67, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 8.70, Borja Agote (EUK) 8.24, Diogo Appleton (PRT) 7.13 Heat 6: Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 9.67, Kieran Bulard (REU) 7.50, Ander Mendiguren (EUK) 5.63, Luca Dioguardi (CNY) 4.53 Heat 7: Frederico Morais (PRT) 10.80, Alex Gironi (EUK) 9.50, Lucas Jannier (REU) 4.00, Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 2.80 Heat 8: Manex Bikuna (EUK), Luis Eyre (GBR), Diego Mignot (FRA)
GRAN CANARIA SANTA PRO JUNIOR RD OF 64 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Charly Termeau (FRA) 6.84, George Picking (GBR) 6.40, William Aliotti (FRA) 5.64, Tom Good (GBR) 5.24 Heat 2: Gaspard Larsonneur (FRA) 9.34, Luis Diaz (CNY) 8.00, Javier Ascanio Fernandez (CNY) 7.50, Toby Donachie (GBR) 4.63 Heat 3: Remi Petersen (NLD) 10.36, Harry Timson (GBR) 10.17, Pedro Correia (PRT) 8.17, Ugo Robin (FRA) 7.96 Heat 4: Ian Fontaine (FRA) 10.67, Luke Dillon (GBR) 6.43, Ethan Egiguren (EUK) 5.02, Titouan Deffarges (FRA) 2.67 Heat 5: Dimitri Ouvre (GLP) 7.76, Nomme Mignot (FRA) 5.75, Tomas Fernandes (PRT) 5.30, Kosme Fernandez (EUK) 3.87 Heat 6: Miguel Blanco (PRT) 8.74, Josh Piper (GBR) 6.40, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 6.27, Andy Criere (FRA) 6.17 Heat 7: Vicente Romero (ESP) 13.73, Tom Cloarec (FRA) 8.27, Roberto Letemendia (EUK) 5.10, Will Davey (GBR) 4.70 Heat 8: Marcelino Botin (ESP) 8.16, Simon Sew-Heng (REU) 7.77, Imanol Yeregi (EUK) 7.30, Nelson Cloarec (FRA) 6.17 Heat 9: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 13.50, Ander Mendiguren (EUK) 10.77, Charly Quivront (FRA) 5.67, Arthur Lasse (FRA) 4.36 Heat 10: Borja Agote (EUK) 7.27, Luca Dioguardi (CNY) 6.70, Maxime Bobet (FRA) 5.70, Pierre Rollet (FRA) 4.70 Heat 11: Jorgann Couzinet (REU) 13.00, Ramzi Boukhiam (MOR) 12.00, Aldric God (FRA) 7.27, Roberto D’Amico (ITA) 2.80 Heat 12: Kieran Bulard (REU) 13.60, Diogo Appleton (PRT) 10.10, Derek Gomes (VEN) 8.50, Julen Egiguren (EUK) 8.10 Heat 13: Frederico Morais (PRT) 10.06, Manex Bikuna (EUK) 6.16, Alex Iriondo (EUK) 5.40, Saul Torres (CNY) 4.54 Heat 14: Alex Girioni (EUK) 11.03, Luis Eyre (GBR) 8.30, Guilherme Fonseca (PRT) 6.26, Andrew Petrelluzzi (GLP) 5.97 Heat 15: José Ferreira (PRT) 10.66, Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 7.27, Natxo Gonzalez (EUK) 5.57, Maurice Meyerwestphal (REU) 5.40 Heat 16: Diego Mignot (FRA) 9.80, Lucas Jannier (REU) 8.43, Fransisco Alves (PRT) 8.07, Pablo Goncalves (REU) 7.93
