Julian Wilson (AUS)© 2010 - Aquashot/aspeurope.comEvent officials pushed through to complete 5 heats of Round Five at the left point break of San Juan before bad light caused a halt to proceedings. Heats nº 6-8 of Round Five will kick off proceeding early morning then straight into Quarter-finals action to take advantage of the high tide mark.
Today, San Juan offered waves in the 4-5ft (1.5m) range with moderate cross-shore winds providing more than adequate conditions for the strong field of surfers as they took to the air in an incredible display of modern innovative performance surfing at this 145,000$US event.
Nic Muscroft (Jan Juc, AUS) 28, took down an inform Julian Wilson (AUS) in a great heat that saw Muscroft claw his way back into the battle in the later stages of the encounter. Wilson was in scintillating form in all his appearances today, boosting huge airs mixed with lightening fast turns but it was Muscroft who picked off the better set waves and covered them with powerful backhand gouges.
“He (Wilson) has been doing some crazy airs all day so I knew I had to perform pretty well to beat him. In my last heat I got second in the last 10 seconds and when I realized I was against Julian it was a bit of bummer but it is good to actually beat him.”
Muscroft used his priority to perfection waiting for the waves with high scoring potential. His game plan was simple and proved correct as the final siren sounded.
“I saw how it is very windy now so I thought the cleaner waves would be the smaller inside ones and the second or third of the set. There have been a lot of waves and man-on-man so I knew I still had a good shot and ended up getting two good scores in the last 10 minutes. My plan was just to get the clean ones and just surf them to my best.”
Tanner Gadauskas (San Clemente CA, USA) 22, scored the highest single score of the event with a near perfect 9.80 out of 10 on a long peeling left that ran along the reef perfectly in his Round Four match-up which also saw Glen Hall (IRL) advance leaving John John Florence (HAW) in third position.
The powerful goofy footer smashed out a combined two wave heat total of 17.70 out of 20 and has kept his momentum rolling and is enjoying his time at the Islas Canarias Santa Pro.
“I feel good and I am excited to be surfing the left here. I am just taking it one heat at a time. I am not thinking too much ahead. This heat was real fun and I got lucky with a wave that allowed me to go the entire reef. I have never really had a wave like that out here ever so I was just excited when I made it to the inside section and it kept going.”
Heitor Alves (Fortaleza/Ceara, BRA) 27, is the man to beat at this stage laying down the gauntlet to his opponents with the event’s highest combined total of 18.10 in his Round Four encounter. Then followed it up with a controlled win over Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) to advance with ease into the Quarter-finals.
“Now I am even closer to the final that I have been wanting in a prime event. I haven’t had a good result in one yet so I am glad to be in this position in the quarter-finals. I think that tomorrow I would like to surf better so that I can make it to the final.”
“I am training a lot every day and I think it is beginning to give me the results I need,” continued Alves. “Surfing and competing is also helping me at the moment and I am having a lot of good luck with the waves in this event. I believe a lot in having luck on your side.”
Cory Lopez (Florida, USA) 33, powered his way through to the Quarter-finals in the final heat of the day in the diminishing light. The importance of this ASP PRIME event is in the minds of all competitors leading into the final leg in Hawaii.
“I’m stoked to get through and especially with this year’s changes we really don’t know how to qualify so I know you really have to do well in these events. This is one of the last events with only the WQS guys so you have to make the most of it before we move into Hawaii.”
If experience is to count then Lopez has plenty of it under his belt with a life time spent visiting the Canary Islands. Boosting huge front side airs mixed with his trade mark power snap, Lopez feels at home on the Left of San Juan.
“It is a really nice wave with an open face and it is similar to Margaret River with a little more wall to it actually. It is a fun wave and I have always enjoyed the Canaries because I came here the first time when I was 16 years old so I have been coming here for a long time.”
With tomorrow’s forecast the scene is set for an amazing day of action with the fist-call scheduled for 07:00am at San Juan.
Surfers competing in the Islas Canarias Santa Pro are out to claim the valuable points on offer for their world rankings in an attempt to qualify for the elite ASP World Tour events in 2011. Also European surfers are on their second last stop for the ASP European Open title which is currently being lead by Marc Lacomare (FRA). Having a PRIME status the Islas Canarias Santa Pro is a crucial event for all the surfers and their 2010 rankings.
For all results, videos, daily highlights, photos and news log-on to
www.aspeurope.com Remaining Islas Canarias Santa Pro Round Five Match-UpsHeat 6: Dyyan Neve (AUS) Vs Jesse Mendes (BRA)
Heat 7: Tanner Gadauskas (USA) Vs Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 8: Glen Hall (IRL) Vs Tim Boal (FRA)
Upcoming Islas Canarias Santa Pro Quarter-final Match-UpsHeat 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) Vs Kai Barger (HAW)
Heat 2: Nic Muscroft (AUS) Vs Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 3: Cory Lopez (USA) Vs TBA
Heat 4: TBA
Islas Canarias Santa Pro Round Five ResultsHeat 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.74 Def. Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 10.83
Heat 2: Kai Barger (HAW) 11.03 Def. Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 8.93
Heat 3: Nic Muscroft (AUS) 15.37 Def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.07
Heat 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.17 Def. Mason Ho (HAW) 8.16
Heat 5: Cory Lopez (USA) 10.67 Def. Masatoshi Ohno (JPN) 8.60
Islas Canarias Santa Pro Round Four ResultsHeat 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) 18.10, Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 12.00, Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 11.33
Heat 2: Kai Barger (HAW) 12.03, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 10.26, Jay Thompson (AUS) 10.20
Heat 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.50, Mason Ho (HAW) 11.44, Marco Fernandez (BRA) 10.37
Heat 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.13, Nic Muscroft (AUS) 14.06, Nat Young (USA) 8.30
Heat 5: Cory Lopez (USA) 15.10, Dyyan Neve (AUS) 11.17, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 6.04
Heat 6: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 15.60, Masatoshi Ohno (JPN) 13.00, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.00
Heat 7: Tanner Gadauskas (USA) 17.70, Glen Hall (IRL) 14.77, John John Florence (HAW) 8.50
Heat 8: Tim Boal (FRA) 13.36, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.60, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 10.53
Islas Canarias Santa Pro Remaining Round Three ResultsHeat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.20, Nat Young (USA) 14.14, Ben Dunn (AUS) 7.50, Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 7.33
Heat 5: Mason Ho (HAW) 11.67, Nic Muscroft (AUS) 9.33, Austin Ware (USA) 8.17, Hodei Collazo (EUK) 7.17
Heat 6: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.67, Marco Fernandez (BRA) 10.07, Marlon Lipke (DEU) 9.50, Klee Strachan (ZAF) 7.03
Heat 7: Cory Lopez (USA) 11.66, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 10.60, Heath Joske (AUS) 10.30, Pedro Henrique (BRA) 5.57
Heat 8: Dyyan Neve (AUS) 14.73, Masatoshi Ohno (JPN) 12.24, Granger Larsen (HAW) 11.30, Joan Duru (FRA) 8.34
Heat 9: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 12.80, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 11.84, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 10.20, Richard Christie (NZL) 7.14
Heat 10: Glen Hall (IRL) 12.33, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.94, Leonardo Neves (BRA) 9.77, Jano Belo (BRA) 9.27
Heat 11: Tanner Gadauskas (USA) 16.27, Tim Boal (FRA) 13.67, Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 12.93, Yuri Sodre (BRA) 12.17
Heat 12: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 14.37, John John Florence (HAW) 13.57, Nathaniel Curran (USA) 13.57, Tiago Camarao (BRA) 11.40
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