Eight Men Remaining to Battle for the Sooruz Lacanau Pro Title

The first man vs. man battles took place today in the Sooruz Lacanau Pro, after round 5 was wrapped up in some great action show. With the pressure rising in all heads as more and more valuable ratings’ points are in the way, it was obvious the sixteen remaining men would be surfing their best to keep it going in the French Pro.

Aritz Aranburu will be the last European representative in tomorrow’s quarterfinals, facing Daniel Redman in the fourth heat of the final day. The Spanish Basque surfer won with style, handling the pressure of the ratings’ race with great professionalism. “I’m just enjoying... Making the quarterfinals in this event is like a dream becoming true. I’ve been surfing here since I was a kid and I know it is going to be important for the points. I just want to keep going tomorrow,” confessed Aritz.

Surfing against Michel Bourez in the first man vs. man battle of the day, Jordy Smith stole the quarterfinals’ spot in the last minute, scoring 6.07 pts to jump to first place cutting Bourez’s quarterfinal goal. Despite this close loss, Michel Bourez secured his best WQS result.

“The waves looked perfect but there wasn’t any wall or vertical sections. At the end, it was an every second struggle but I missed my best ride scoring 6.67 pts where I should have caught a 7 at least,” said a very disappointed Michel.

Talking about the result, “It’s already the best ever for me on a main WQS event so it’s great. I came here with the objective of reaching the quarterfinals but I’ll try to get more points in Hossegor next week.”

Relieved after his shocking win, Jordy Smith knew he got lucky in the end. “Michel started fast and at the middle of the heat I was getting really nervous and stressed. I’m lucky this last wave came for me as I had priority and made the 6 points I needed to win. What a tough time!, “ said 19-year-old Smith.

Equaling Nic Muscroft’s best heat score of the event with 17.50 pts out of possible 20, Dayyan Neve was the man of the day, his style suited perfectly with the soft clean waves to overtake power surfer Neco Padaratz in a high scoring battle. “I’m just feeling so good now... The waves are fun and rippable and if you get a bit of luck you can get some good potential and good scores.”

Neve has been surfing fiberflex boards for the past few months and it seems like he has gained lots of speed and verticality. “These boards have carbon made rails and it makes them light and really reactive in any conditions. I am enjoying my surf with these new tools and appearently they can take me far.”

Talking about his firm intention here in Lacanau, “Making the final would just be ideal. This is what I want at least from this 6 Star WQS so I’ll keep up the good work and try harder in the quarters,” finished Neve nicknamed Wonder Woman by Dave “The Voice” Mailman.

Nic Muscroft was the other man of the morning smashing the perfect fun sets coming in, to grab a spot in tomorrow’s final heats. Carving the first section before hitting the hollower parts, Muscroft made most out of the waves’ potential. “It was so fun... I only surfed six waves in the heat and got low scores so I’m stoked to win it in these conditions. I have a couple of good results but am definitely going for some serious goals as I love France and feel really good here.”

Looking at this year’s rising level and tight race, “Everything is so close this year, the level is rising , we’re getting more and more events on tour so it is tough for sure. However it makes it possible to qualify until the last events so it is the good side of it.”

Securing his best result of the year here in Lacanau, Daniel Redman elminated the last French hope of the event Tim Boal in heat 6. The conditions had changed with the lowtide making the waves smaller. “I’m stoked to reach the quarters. I probably got through more heats here than in the whole year so it means a lot to me. Tim is a very good surfer and I just had to get the right option out there in the tricky contest area.”

“It’s kind of a late start for me if I want to make it to the Foster’s ASP World Tour, but there’s a lot of big events coming up and why not start now! It’s better now than never so I’ll focus and be positive for the remaining heats of the event,” finished Redman, second South African of the day to advance to the man vs. man quarterfinals.

The only Hawaiian to reach the quarterfinals, Joel Centeio escaped a tough elimination in the last minute of his round 5 battle in the morning, after a slow start. “It was so close... I couldn’t get any wave for the whole heat, and the conditions have been clean but really soft so I didn’t know how to get into this heat. I jusr relaxed, and got lucky when this last rippable wave came through. Then I surfed the best I could an found this 8 pointer.”

Knowing the European leg can a big difference in the ratings, “I had to come here after a week at home between Japan and France. There are some points to be taken for sure, and my strategy is to get enough results to finish and confirm in Hawaii for a possible Foster’s ASP World Tour qualification.”

--Press Release