CÔTE SAUVAGE, Royan – France (Friday, 13 July, 2012) ? The Côte Sauvage dished out extremely tough conditions on Day Two of competition of the Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior with strong winds and heavy rain squalls battering the contest site. Round Two and eight heats of Round Three were completed with the Top Seeds of the event getting a taste of the action.
The Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior in its inaugural edition is a crucial event as the ASP Europe Pro Junior season enters the business end of the season which will run over the upcoming two months culminating with the crowning of the ASP Europe Pro Junior Champions at the end of August.
Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 18, took on the wind and sea and came away with a hard fought win to advance to the following round of competition. Working both the longer lefts and the punchy rights, Boukhiam laid hard on his rail turns and carves as well as finding a nice long tube to cap off his heat win.
?I was sure they were going to run my heat today so I tried to catch a couple of waves before my heat because it was so hard out there but I am happy to get through. In the pro juniors it is always hard conditions but at least there are waves and if you choose the good ones it is okay. I think it is going to be bigger tomorrow so there are going to be some waves which is good.?
Borja Agote (EUK) 20, displayed a dominant performance in his 20-minute bout with two strong scoring rides in the opening minutes to take a strong lead over his opponents. Despite the tough conditions the young Basque surfer felt comfortable in the turbulent seas.
?It is hell out there but I love it,? laughed Agote. ?I got a score at the start of the heat but I didn?t hear anything so I had no idea how I was going. It was a good first five minutes to the heat where I found two good rides straight up. Then I sat and waited to try and get a better wave but it was impossible. In these conditions anything can happen so I am pleased with the result.?
Guillaume Cassaigne (FRA) 17, flew to victory pulling off a spectacular aerial reverse to leap into first place and claim his best result in the ASP Europe Pro Junior series. Ecstatic when the final results were announced as he left the water, Cassaigne was visibly pleased with finding himself in Round Four of competition tomorrow.
?It was a nice wave and I saw that section and thought, ?Let?s go? and I had no stress and I pulled off the aerial to win the heat. I am very happy and this is my first result in the pro junior series this year. It is good and I am so happy.?
Vincent Romero (ESP) 20, currently ranked nº2 on the ASP Europe Pro Junior series displayed a powerful array of backhand snaps to claim an 8.5 out of 10 to take control of his early morning Round Two heat and advance through to the top seeded round where he will compete tomorrow when competition resumes.
?It was difficult with the wind and the strong current and I was a little bit lost out there. Some waves looked like they were going to be good but you never know. Some of the bad looking ones turned out to be the good ones. It is complicated out there but it is the same for everyone. My goal would be to make another final and I am concentrating on that and my board is going well so let?s hope everything works out.?
Timothee Bisso (GLP) 13, took on the difficult conditions early this morning in the first heat of proceedings today. One of the youngest competitors in the Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior surfed with power and flow in the shifting peaks. With an early lead established Bisso held on to advance along with Simon Sew-Heng (REU) into Round Three.
?The conditions were so hard today. It was amazing. The waves are mushy so it was difficult to surf. I got a couple of okay waves and I was really lucky. I could not hear any scores in my heat and it was not easy and I had a chance which I took and now I am in the next round which is great.?
The Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior will reconvene tomorrow, Saturday 14th July at 9.00 am for a possible start shortly after with Heat nº9 of Round Three of the men?s event. The remaining heats in the women?s division will run on Sunday 15th July with the crowning of both Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior champions.
For all results, videos, daily highlights, photos and news log-on to www.aspeurope.com
The Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior is made possible with the support of the following event partners: Sooruz, Agglomération Royan Atlantique, France Station Nautique – Pays Royannais, Région Poitou-Charentes, la Charente Maritime, Office National des Fôrets, La Tremblade, Saint Palais sur mer, Virgin Radio, Mona Lisa, Fédération Française de Surf, Entreprise Pitel amongst others.
Remaining Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior Men Round Three Match-Ups
Heat 9: Frederico Morais (PRT), Maurice Meyerwestphal (REU), Timothee Bisso (GLP), Maxime Astesano (GLP) Heat 10: Luis Eyre (GBR), Imanol Yeregi (EUK), Tomas Fernandes (PRT), Simon Sew-Heng (REU) Heat 11: Ugo Robin (FRA), Manix Bikuna (EUK), Pablo Goncalves (REU), Maxime Bobet (FRA) Heat 12: Alex Gironi (EUK), Aldric God (FRA), Bruno Reinhardt (FRA), Vicent Escale (FRA) Heat 13: Ian Fontaine (FRA), Nomme Mignot (FRA), Luis Diaz (CNY), Vehiatua Prunier (PYF) Heat 14: Francisco Alves (PRT), Jorgann Couzinet (REU), Vincent Romero (ESP), Martin Coret (REU) Heat 15: Nelson Cloarec (FRA), Charly Termeau (FRA), Andy Crière (FRA), Tom Bellevergue (FRA) Heat 16: Dimitri Ouvre (GLP), Pedro Correia (PRT), Luke Dillon (GBR), Gatien Delahaye (GLP)
Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior Men Round Three Results Heat 1: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 12.34, Arthur Lasse (FRA) 8.50, Mihimana Braye (PYF) 7.04, Tom Good (GBR) 6.24
Heat 2: Borja Agote (EUK) 9.67, Jose Ferreira (PRT) 6.70, Lucas Jannier (REU) 5.83, Diogo Appleton (PRT) 4.56 Heat 3: Miguel Blanco (PRT) 13.67, Jordan Oueslati (GLP) 7.90, Titouan Boyer (MAF) 7.33, Ethan Egiguren (EUK) 3.93 Heat 4: Tom Cloarec (FRA) 10.70, Roberto D’Amico (ITA) 10.43, Charles Quiveront (FRA) 7.30, Edward Smith (GBR) 4.37 Heat 5: Kieren Bulard (REU) 11.50, Juan Fernandez (ESP) 6.23, Roberto Letemendia (EUK) 4.94, Francois Guilhermsang (FRA) 4.83 Heat 6: Gaspard Larsonneur (FRA) 11.66, Natxo Gonzalez (EUK) 5.86, Berho Malik (FRA) 5.60, Louis Fears (FRA) 4.00 Heat 7: Guillaume Cassaigne (FRA) 9.67, Diego Mignot (FRA) 9.60, Guilherme Fonseca (PRT) 5.27, Pierre Rollet (FRA) 4.83 Heat 8: Andrew Petrelluzzi (GLP) 9.86, William Aliotti (FRA) 9.17, Harry Timson (GBR) 8.23, Benoit Naulin (FRA) 3.50
