Johanne Defay led the ladies front while advancing to the Semifinals of the Airwalk Lacanau Pro Junior.
GRANDE PLAGE, Lacanau – France (Sunday, August 11, 2013) – Competitors were greeted with excellent 3-4Ft surf this morning on the third day of the Airwalk Lacanau Pro Junior at la Grande Plage. Conditions allowed for the men’s Quarterfinalists to be decided before letting the women’s steal the show with the quarterfinals.s.
Hiroto Arai (JPN) 18, continued to progress through the men’s field today. The Japanese surfer makde his way through the third round to advance into the quarterfinals in his first event in France. His dynamic and powerful approach to surfing the Lacanau beachbreaks has established him as a definite threat in the event and he’ll be looking to confirm on the final day tomorrow.
“People are very nice here and the waves are fun, my first trip to Lacanau is a great success so far!” Arai stated. “I came mainly for the 5-Star, it’s the first time I’ll surf in a major event overseas and the Junior is a good way to acclimate to the waves and everything. I’ve just placed 7th in the US Open Junior so I’m hoping I can get a good result here too.”
Aldric God (FRA) 16, current European No.27 and part of the new crew of young Frenchmen coming up on the regional scene, controlled his Round of 32 heat this afternoon to advance into the quarterfinals. Despite being relegated to second place in the dying moments of their exchange by Tom Cloarec (FRA), God seemed in excellent form and will try to shake up the rankings when come the finals of the ASP 1-Star Airwalk Lacanau Pro Junior.
“I had a hard time getting a good rhythm going and I was starting to be stressed out,” God commented. “I was lucky enough to get a good wave frontside and managed to throw a big spray which the judges seem to appreciate, wave selection is definitely the key today. I didn’t see the other guys surf too much, so I was pretty focused on doing my own thing.”
The adventure continues for Vincent Feillon (FRA) as well, local surfer from the Lacanau surf club, who managed to place second again in his Round of 32 heat right behind Ian Fontaine (FRA) to get his ticket into the quarters for the first time in his young career.
Timothee Bisso (GLP) 16, concluded today’s action wasting no time in the final heat of the day when he posted two solid scores in the opening minutes to lead the exchange from start to finish. Speed, power and flow, Bisso made sure he checked all three boxes on those waves and let no chance to his competitors.
“I got a good left first, right at the start and I tried to work it like the judges like, with a good flow and with good maneuvers.” Bisso said. “I was paddling back out when that right came through and even though I was tired I just couldn’t pass on it. When I heard those two scores I was super stoked, feeling no pressure and I was just having fun from then on.”
Currently sitting at an average 66th place on the ASP Europe Junior rankings, Bisso only took part in the opening event of the season and gave a higher priority to building an international experience and challenging himself against the very best in the world when he entered the US Open of Surfing junior division. Despite making a mistake and exiting the event early, Bisso came back to Europe more aware of the global level juniors are reaching overseas and determined to improve and make his way to the very top of the regional ladder.
“It’s a whole different world out there,” Bisso admitted. “It was a great experience even though I lost first round, and now I’m back to Lacanau where I placed 4th last year so my goal is clearly to try and better that. Rankings wise I have a few seasons left but I’d like to reach the European Top 10, that will be my goal this season.”
Kim Veteau (GLP) 15, led the women’s up-and-comers squad today in the quarterfinals, accessing the semis for the second time this season. The young surfer from Guadeloupe advanced ahead of compatriot Tessa Thyssen and will be trying to better her best result so far by advancing into the final when competition resumes tomorrow.
“Conditions were a little bit tough with the outgoing tide,” Veteau said. “In our heat the peak moved completely to the north end of the competition area and we got stuck on a bank with less waves. I got two average scores but I’m happy to get through. We were monitoring the heat before ours and that’s where the action was, and it’s tough to just change completely in the middle of a heat. My goal is to reach the final and I’m confident to try and make that happen.”
Ana Morau (FRA) reaches the semifinals for the second time this season as well at the term of the fourth quarters, in which she managed to take advantage of the tough conditions to eliminate defending event champion Lucia Martino (ESP). Morau will join the usual suspects, in the names of Cannelle Bulard (REU), Johanne Defay (FRA) and Leticia Canales Bilbao (EUK) amongst others.
Next Call tomorrow morning will be at ??AM for the final day of the ASP 1-Star Airwalk Lacanau Pro Junior.
The 2013 Airwalk Lacanau Pro Junior is scheduled from August 9-12, 2013 at Grande Plage, Lacanau – France. For all results, photos, video highlights, press releases and LIVE webcast, log on to aspeurope.com.
The Sooruz Lacanau Pro is made possible with the support of the following event partners: Soöruz, Airwalk, Ice Watches, NRJ, Red Bull and Smurfit amongst others.
UPCOMING AIRWALK LACANAU PRO JUNIOR WOMEN’S SEMI-FINALS MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Leticia Canales Bilbao (EUK), Cannelle Bulard (REU), Kim Veteau (GLP), Tessa Thyssen (GLP) Heat 2: Johanne Defay (FRA), Carina Duarte (PRT), Ana Morau (FRA), Alice Melissa Limoigne (REU)
UPCOMING AIRWALK LACANAU PRO JUNIOR MEN’S QUARTER-FINALS MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Dylan Lightfoot (ZAF), Vincent Feillon (FRA), Joao Kopke (PRT), Hiroto Arai (JPN) Heat 2: Ian Fontaine (FRA), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Soli Bailey (AUS) Heat 3: Tom Cloarec (FRA), Natxo Gonzalez (EUK), Lucas Silveira (BRA), Guilherme Fonseca (PRT) Heat 4: Diego Mignot (FRA), Aldric God (FRA), Timothee Bisso (GLP), Paul Cesar Distinguin (FRA)
AIRWALK LACANAU PRO JUNIOR WOMEN’S QUARTER-FINALS RESULTS:
Heat 1: Leticia Canales Bilbao (EUK) 12.50, Cannelle Bulard (REU) 8.24, Marion Bouzigues (FRA) 7.30, Ainara Aymat (EUK) 4.87 Heat 2: Kim Veteau (GLP) 9.83, Tessa Thyssen (GLP) 6.60, Laura Crane (GBR) 3.93, Lilia Lissardy (FRA) 2.20 Heat 3: Johanne Defay (FRA) 13.74, Carina Duarte (PRT) 9.07, Josephine Costes (FRA) 7.60, Marina Lopez (FRA) 4.77 Heat 4: Ana Morau (FRA) 10.50, Alice Melissa Limoigne (REU) 8.00, Tassy Swallow (GBR) 5.17, Lucia Martino (ESP) 3.84
AIRWALK LACANAU PRO JUNIOR MEN’S ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Dylan Lightfoot (ZAF) 15.50, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 12.27, Miguel Blanco (PRT) 12.13, William Aliotti (FRA) 11.06 Heat 2: Joao Kopke (PRT) 13.80, Soli Bailey (AUS) 12.80, Charly Quivront (FRA) 12.70, Pablo Goncalves (REU) 8.33 Heat 3: Ian Fontaine (FRA) 11.67, Vincent Feillon (FRA) 9.00, Luis Diaz (CNY) 8.67, Harry Timson (GBR) 7.77 Heat 4: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 13.50, Hiroto Arai (JPN) 11.20, Charly Termeau (FRA) 10.94, Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 9.47 Heat 5: Tom Cloarec (FRA) 11.60, Aldric God (FRA) 11.20, Gatien Delahaye (GLP) 10.33, Francisco Alves (PRT) 9.03 Heat 6: Lucas Silveira (BRA) 11.90, Paul Cesar Distinguin (FRA) 11.60, Ethan Egiguren (EUK) 9.54, Andy Criere (FRA) 8.83 Heat 7: Diego Mignot (FRA) 13.73, Natxo Gonzalez (EUK) 10.37, Saxon Lumsden (AUS) 10.03, Nelson Cloarec (FRA) 8.07 Heat 8: Timothee Bisso (GLP) 15.40, Guilherme Fonseca (PRT) 11.97, Mihimana Braye (PYF) 10.97, Tom Bellevergue (FRA) 7.46
