Richard Christie into the QF's at the Sooruz Lacanau Pro

Comment Share Posted on Sunday August 22nd 2010 at 7:39 a.m. Tweet

Another spectacular day of surfing was witnessed at the Sooruz Lacanau Pro with the field being stripped down to the last 8 surfers remaining in competition. Ideal conditions allowed the international field of athletes to display their full repertoire of manoeuvres during an action packed day of competitive surfing which saw three rounds of competition completed.

Clean lines in the 4-5ft (1.2m) range pumped through the entire day improving with the higher tide to allow for some spectacular surfing at the main contest site. Blue skies and warm weather added to the summer atmosphere as the huge beach crowd lined the shores to watch the action.

Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) took out an inform Josh Kerr (AUS) in the last minute of their Round Five clash. Putting everything into one last fling Dantas nailed a 5.83 out of a possible 10 to regain the lead and advance to the quarter-finals. Having broken his board early in the heat Dantas fought back in the low scoring clash and will face fellow Brazilian Alex Ribeiro in quarter-final nº4.

Josh Kerr (AUS) 26, despite losing in his final appearance blasted out the highest heat total of the day with an 18.84 out of a possible 20 in Round Three of competition. Getting off to the perfect start with a 9.17, Kerr found himself in position to relax and find a backup score which he did shortly after with another brilliant 9.67 combination air and power moves to seal the heat.
"I had a really good wave at the start of the heat with a nine and then a couple of waves later I caught a really nice right with a really nice punch section at the start and did a good straight-on air and then straight into a fin-out re-entry so it was really good fun out there with some good contestable waves.

"After I got that nine at the start of the heat I knew that I could have a bit of fun," continued Kerr. "That's what I did and I enjoyed myself out there. The boys left me on my own and I was on a peak by myself having fun."

Miguel Pupo (BRA) 18, once again put on a stunning display of modern progressive surfing with his massive combination of aerials and power turns. Downing good friend Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16, in a low scoring clash, Pupo has grown in confidence as the event progresses and feel he can take out anyone of the surfers remaining.

"It was so hard for me because Gabriel is like a brother because we grew up together and I take care of him when we are on tour or in the water so it was sad to beat him but only one of us could make it through to the next round. Today I won and next time it will be him maybe so that is what I am going to say when I see him but that is how it is with man-on-man heats with just one person going to the next round."

"I think the start of the heat was so important for me and I started with a good wave and then 10 minutes with no scoring waves and Gabriel got frustrated out there so that was a good start for me which in the end helped me win the heat. I feel confident after beating Gabriel that I think I can beat anyone and I want to keep going like this."

Heat nº 3 of Round Five saw another clash between two good friends with Marc Lacomare (FRA) 18, hanging on to down Mickey Picon (FRA) in a low scoring tussle. With only one minute remaining Picon gave it his last shot to achieve what for him would be a modest score however miss out by the nearest of margins. Lacomare comments on coming up against good friend and great surfer in Mickey Picon.

"It was really fun out there but I wish I was against another guy because Mickey didn't make it and he is such a model for me so it is an honour to beat him. I was nervous when he got that last wave because he can get any score on any wave so for sure I just had to cross my fingers and hope and in the end I was lucky. I want to take the quarters first and then see if I can make it into another final tomorrow."

The surprise performance on day 5 of the Sooruz Lacanau Pro went to young New Zealander Richard Christie 21, who advanced through all his heats with ease and equals his best ever career result reaching the quarter-finals of an ASP Men's Star Series 6-Star event.

"I'm so stoked now and I don't really know why but I'm going out there just to do my best and get the best waves and somehow I've been getting the best waves and not falling off which is good. (laughs)"

"I got to the quarters in Tasmania at the start of this year so I have equalled my best performance this year," stated Christie. "So I'm really keen to go further this time. I actually have a really good board from Tommy Dalton and it is wide which suits these kinds of waves and also I weigh about 90kg so I need something to get me going and it has been working really well out here which is awesome."

Surfers competing at the Sooruz Lacanau Pro are out to add to their ASP World ranking with the valuable points on offer. European surfers are also chasing points for the overall European Men's title here at stop nº 6 of 12 of the European Series.

A call has been made for 10am (local time) for the start of the Sooruz Lacanau Pro quarter-final matchups shortly after depending on conditions and continuing through to the crowning of this year's Sooruz Lacanau Pro Champion 2010.

For all results, videos, daily highlights, LIVE action, photos and news log-on to www.aspeurope.com


SOORUZ LACANAU PRO UPCOMING QUARTER-FINAL MATCH-UPS
Heat 1: Alejo Muniz (BRA) Vs Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 2: Marc Lacomare (FRA) Vs Pedro Henrique (BRA)

Heat 3: Jayke Sharp (AUS) Vs Richard Christie (NZL)

Heat 4: Alex Ribeiro (BRA) Vs Wiggolly Dantas (BRA)

SOORUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND FIVE RESULTS
Heat 1: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.43 Def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.43
Heat 2: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.93 Def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 11.40
Heat 3: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 12.57 Def. Mickey Picon (FRA) 11.20
Heat 4: Pedro Henrique (BRA) 14.67 Def. Messias Felix (BRA) 9.27
Heat 5: Jayke Sharp (AUS) 12.94 Def. Glen Hall (IRL) 11.17
Heat 6: Richard Christie (NZL) 14.17 Def. Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 8.10
Heat 7: Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 14.40 Def. Nathan Hedge (AUS) 12.20
Heat 8: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 11.03 Def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.43

SOORUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND FOUR RESULTS
Heat 1: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.46, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.40, Nico Rupp (DEU) 9.34
Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.97, Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.30, Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 12.30
Heat 3: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 16.67, Messias Felix (BRA) 14.17, Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 12.33
Heat 4: Pedro Henrique (BRA) 15.70, Mickey Picon (FRA) 14.40, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 13.47
Heat 5: Glen Hall (IRL) 16.00, Richard Christie (NZL) 13.47, William Cardoso (BRA) 13.17
Heat 6: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 16.26, Jayke Sharp (AUS) 13.57, Granger Larsen (HAW) 10.53
Heat 7: Nathan Hedge (AUS) 16.96, Josh Kerr (AUS) 16.07, Romain Cloitre (FRA) 12.33
Heat 8: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 14.00, Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 10.27, Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.10

SOORUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND THREE RESULTS
Heat 1: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.90, Heitor Alves (BRA) 11.60, Jean Da Silva (BRA) 9.90, David do Carmo (BRA) 9.13
Heat 2: Nico Rupp (DEU) 13.94, Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 13.43, Sebastien Zietz (HAW) 10.66, Hugo Savalli (REU) 7.06
Heat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.00, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 11.93, Adrien Valero (FRA) 8.40, Joan Duru (FRA) 7.61
Heat 4: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 11.33, Mickey Picon (FRA) 10.53, Austin Ware (USA) 9.26, Alain Riou (PYF) 8.84
Heat 5: Messias Felix (BRA) 14.27, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 11.17, Rudy Palmboom (ZAF) 9.70, Diego Rosa (BRA) 7.00
Heat 6: Pedro Henrique (BRA) 13.57, Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 11.57, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 10.93, Dyyan Neve (AUS) 9.77
Heat 7: Richard Christie (NZL) 11.83, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 10.90, Jay Quinn (NZL) 10.50, Russell Molony (AUS) 6.36
Heat 8: Glen Hall (IRL) 12.13, Jayke Sharp (AUS) 12.10, Adam Robertson (AUS) 11.97, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 4.77
Heat 9: Granger Larsen (HAW) 13.77, William Cardoso (BRA) 12.64, Paulo Moura (BRA) 9.20, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 7.20
Heat 10: Josh Kerr (AUS) 18.84, Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.83, Tim Boal (FRA) 11.66, Junior Faria (BRA) 11.13
Heat 11: Nathan Hedge (AUS) 13.83, Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 13.50, Pablo Paulino (BRA) 13.33, Nic Muscroft (AUS) 12.00
Heat 12: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 12.30, Romain Cloitre (FRA) 12.10, Brent Dorrington (AUS) 7.24, Jihad Khodr (BRA) 7.10

SOORUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND TWO RESULTS
Heat 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.37, Nico Rupp (DEU) 14.20, Andre Silva (BRA) 12.50, Charles Martin (GLP) 9.06
Heat 2: David do Carmo (BRA) 12.50, Hugo Savalli (REU) 12.20, Marcos Giorgi (URY) 10.44, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 6.12
Heat 3: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 13.20, Jean Da Silva (BRA) 12.53, Dion Atkinson (AUS) 12.33, Jeronimo Vargas (BRA) 8.94
Heat 4: Sebastien Zietz (HAW) 13.90, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.80, Frederic Robin (REU) 8.40, Brandon Jackson (ZAF) 6.43
Heat 5: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 15.97, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 13.90, Masatoshi Ohno (JPN) 11.16, Marlon Lipke (DEU) 9.27
Heat 6: Adrien Valero (FRA) 12.60, Austin Ware (USA) 12.46, Brian Toth (PRI) 9.50, Michael February (ZAF) 9.20
Heat 7: Mickey Picon (FRA) 16.83, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.60, Medi Vemenardi (REU) 8.90, Filipe Jervis (PRT) 6.57
Heat 8: Alain Riou (PYF) 13.73, Joan Duru (FRA) 13.36, Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 10.80, Kai Barger (HAW) 8.33
Heat 9: Messias Felix (BRA) 14.87, Tomas Hermes (BRA) 14.57, Pablo Gutierrez (ESP) 11.44, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 9.23
Heat 10: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 12.90, Pedro Henrique (BRA) 12.26, Alan Stokes (GBR) 7.84, Rhys Bombaci (AUS) 7.14
Heat 11: Dyyan Neve (AUS) 13.07, Rudy Palmboom (ZAF) 12.83, Txaber Trojaola (EUK) 9.56, Leigh McMahon (AUS) 7.73
Heat 12: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 14.00, Diego Rosa (BRA) 10.24, Gabe Kling (USA) 8.57, Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 7.86
Heat 13: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.67, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 11.77, Billy Stairmand (NZL) 11.70, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 6.90
Heat 14: Richard Christie (NZL) 15.70, Glen Hall (IRL) 12.10, Kiron Jabour (HAW) 12.06, Nat Young (USA) 11.73
Heat 15: Jayke Sharp (AUS) 14.77, Russell Molony (AUS) 9.36, Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 7.18, Jorge Spanner (BRA) 6.53
Heat 16: Adam Robertson (AUS) 14.70, Jay Quinn (NZL) 13.10, Royden Bryson (ZAF) 12.17, Ricky Basnett (ZAF) 8.77
Heat 17: William Cardoso (BRA) 15.63, Junior Faria (BRA) 15.23, Damien Chaudoy (REU) 10.54, Gordan Fontaine (FRA) 5.90
Heat 18: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 15.23, Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.97, Adrien Toyon (REU) 9.63, Klee Strachan (ZAF) 8.87
Heat 19: Tim Boal (FRA) 10.66, Granger Larsen (HAW) 10.50, Tiago Camarao (BRA) 9.27, Yuri Sodre (BRA) 6.53
Heat 20: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.30, Paulo Moura (BRA) 11.33, Gustavo Fernandes (BRA) 8.66, Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 7.90
Heat 21: Pablo Paulino (BRA) 16.06, Brent Dorrington (AUS) 15.14, Nathaniel Curran (USA) 14.64, Odirlei Coutinho (BRA) 8.90
Heat 22: Nic Muscroft (AUS) 15.46, Romain Cloitre (FRA) 13.40, Eneko Acero (EUK) 12.87, Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 11.16
Heat 23: Jihad Khodr (BRA) 14.60, Nathan Hedge (AUS) 13.23, Leonardo Neves (BRA) 12.70, Jatyr Berasaluce (EUK) 12.33
Heat 24: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 15.50, Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 12.60, Kevin Sullivan (HAW) 11.00, Tim Curren (USA)