Josh Schmeltzer (Deu) and Pauline Ado (Fra) win the Island Style Pro Junior in Sopelana!
Saturday night saw the arrival of a solid 4-5 foot swell. A light off-shore which only lasted until the end of the morning gave way to a steady side-shore. The waves continued to pick up with the out-going tide, making the paddle-out difficult for all the surfers.
The contest started at 8 o’clock with the girls. They had the good fortune of taking advantage of the best of the conditions to finish the semis and the final.
They put on a great show. The final had the spectators holding their breath. Canelle Bulard (FRA) and Laetitia Sudre (REU) battled against the conditions during the thirty minute heat, but couldn’t find the necessary waves. The leader for the first 20 minutes of the final was Justine Dupont with a 6.67 and a 5.43. But at the end of the heat, Pauline Ado found a long powerful 5 foot right and strung together 4 maneuvers, handing her the victory with a 9.53 ride, the best score of the entire contest.
In the boys’ draw, the organizers again had to use two sites in order to catch up with the delays from the day before. One of the performances of the day was by Nicolas Von Rupp (GER) who eliminated the seventh seed Marc Lacomare (FRA) in the quarter-final. “…It was difficult because the waves were coming in all over the place, but in the end I thought that I had the scores I needed to get through the heat because I surfed well…” Marc Lacomare (FRA) told us.
A few minutes later, the beach at Sopelana was hit by a violent storm making the running of the semis a bit dangerous. A delay of thirty minutes was enough to restart the contest.
This offered a welcome break as, after having surfed 5 heats during the day, the surfers were exhausted by the testing conditions and could take a rest before the final. Josh Schmeltzer (GER) had time to recharge his batteries and scored an 8.83 leaving the other surfers little chance. Nicolas von Rupp (GER), Tim Stevenson (AUS) and Jean-Sebastien Estienne (GUA) did their best to catch up, but the gap had been established.
Bravo to all our surfers who put on a fantastic show. And a big thank-you to the organizers and sponsors who set up this new leg of the ASP European Pro Junior Tour.
See you all next week for the next stop in Lacanau, France !
Final Results :
1 Star Asp Europe Nikita Women’s Pro Junior
1 Pauline Ado, 15.03 points (FRA)
2 Justine Dupont, 12.10 points (FRA)
3 Canelle Bulard, 10.07 points (FRA)
4 Laetitia Sudre, 7.66 points (REU)
1 Star Asp Europe Island Style Men’s Pro Junior
1 Josh Schmeltzer, 12.73 points (DEU)
2 Nicolas Von Rupp, 10.90 points (DEU)
5 Tim Stevenson, 9.33 points (AUS)
4 Jean-Sebastien Estienne, 2.60 points (GUA)
