Quarter-Finalists Decided at ASP 5-Star Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro

Shaun Joubert (ZAF) [Photocredit:Aquashot/aspeurope.com]

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands (Saturday, November 6, 2010) -On a day which saw the Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro step into top gear with the quarter-finalists being decided, Australians Heath Joske and Davey Cathels battled out the heat of the contest which saw Joske come through in the tricky conditions at the shallow right of El Confital.

After being on hold for over two hours due to the low tide and inconsistent sets, event officials eventually gave the green light to run Round Four of competition in the clean 2-3ft (1m) waves. The forecast for the remainder of the waiting period is not clear, forcing organisers to run the moment the reef at El Confital was covered with water and the sets started to pour in.

Heath Joske (Valla Beach, AUS) 21, amassed a massive combined heat total of 17.33 to narrowly oust fellow Australian Davey Cathels (North Narabeen NSW, AUS) 19, 17.00 out of 20 in the tussle of the event. Joske scored a near perfect 9.8 out of 10 to have his opponent on the ropes at the midway stage. However Cathels answered back with an 8.33 and an 8.67 to hold the lead momentarily before Joske secured a 7.53 to take the win.

"I do feel a bit bad actually. He (Cathels) was surfing amazing. We surf contests to have heats like that with both guys getting really good scores. It was super exciting and we were chatting out in the line-up between waves but it got a bit serious at the end when he started pulling those 8's out of the bag and my heart was going on that last wave he got."

Joske was not keen on running this morning because of the inconsistent sets rolling in. As the afternoon advanced the swell pumped producing excellent right-handers. Contest director Jose Rodriguez and many local surfers assure that this is a common occurrence.

"It seems to start off a little slow and after high tide when it starts to drop the swell starts pulsing," commented Joske. "It is good out there man-on-man because you can be in the right spot when the waves come through and you can have a really good time. I went out to get off to a quick start but which I did but in the end it didn't really matter because there were heaps of waves."

A laconic Davey Cathels despite losing was pleased with his overall performance at the Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro and gave full credit to his victor. One of the standout surfers all event, Cathels was never going to be easily beaten on the peeling rights.

"You don't get many heats where you get three 8's and you lose but it is better to lose that way than to not get any scores at all. It was fun out there with Heath and we were talking so a good heat for sure with him and I'm not too disappointed."

Jesse Mendes (Guarujà, BRA) 17, scored one of the highest single wave scores of the day with a scintillating backhand assault to claim an 8.67 out of a possible 10. Holding priority and perfectly positioned on the peak, Mendes cracked off four consecutive turns to finish on the dry reef and take a commanding lead over Aritz Aranburu (EUK).

"The conditions are really slow and hard out there because of the small waves. I just tried to keep myself calm and wait for the sets to come through. I knew Aritz was going to be a tough guy to beat, probably one of the hardest in the contest, so I had to be patient and wait for the sets."

Priority and patience were the keys to Mendes making it through to the quarter-finals, his second best result of the year. Currently nº 156 on the ASP World Rankings having only surfed six Star-Series events this season, another result in the Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro is guaranteed to move the young Brazilian up the World Rankings.

"I started with a 6.83 and then I waited a long time and got the biggest wave of the heat and got that 8.67. So I am stoked to get to the quarter-finals and hopefully to go all the way to the final."
 

Shaun Joubert (Mossel, ZAF) 19, flew into the quarters with a display of power surfing mixed with aerial manoeuvres. Pitted against newly crowned ASP European Champion and long time rival in the Pro Junior events Marc Lacomare (FRA) 20, Joubert answered back to the early challenge laid down by Lacomare with a solid 6.67 and then nailed a huge aerial to claim a 7.67 out of 10 and his pass into the last 8 remaining surfers.

"I tried my best out there and against Marc (Lacomare) it is always tough because we are the same age so we have surfed against each other many times in the Pro Juniors. I tried to look at the positive side of things and there are waves and it is off-shore and the weather today is beautiful. Some of the airs are scoring higher than the turns so I always try and boost an air instead of doing a couple of speed turns."

Glen Hall (IRL) is one of the most consistent competitors on tour and in tricky conditions like those experienced today, the stocky goofy-footer comes into his own. After a restart to his 30-minute clash, Hall went to work on building his account against dark horse Adrien Valero (FRA).

"I played a good chess match out there today and I got through but I could still have improved a little on my wave selection I think. I got solid scores but they could have been higher if I surfed a bit better. I felt I played the game right but I didn't surf as well as I would like to."
"I have been timing the sets all morning and I felt that every half hour there were at least two good sets on offer," explained Hall. "I went out to wait for them and it worked even though Adrien (Valero) probably got the best wave of the heat. If it was a four-man heat it would be unsurfable but man-on-man you can sit where you want and use your priority and get your waves so in half an hour there is plenty of time and waves for each of us."

A first call will be made at 10:00am Day 5 of the waiting period. Conditions are expected to remain the same allowing for a possible crowning tomorrow of the Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro 2010 champion.

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Upcoming Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro Quarter-Final Match-Ups

Heat 1: Jesse Mendes (BRA) Vs Glen Hall (IRL)
Heat 2: Shaun Joubert (ZAF) Vs Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY)
Heat 3: Tim Boal (FRA) Vs Heath Joske (AUS)
Heat 4: Charlie Brown (BRA) Vs Nick Riley (AUS)

Islas Canarias Ocean & Earth Pro Round Four Results

Heat 1: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 15.50 Def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.94
Heat 2: Glen Hall (IRL) 10.84 Def. Adrien Valero (FRA) 9.83
Heat 3: Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 14.34 Def. Marc Lacomare (FRA) 11.60
Heat 4: Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 14.33 Def. Charles Martin (GLP) 10.90
Heat 5: Tim Boal (FRA) 15.27 Def. Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 15.14
Heat 6: Heath Joske (AUS) 17.33 Def. Davey Cathels (AUS) 17.00
Heat 7: Charlie Brown (BRA) 12.84 Def. Adrien Toyon (REU) 11.17
Heat 8: Nick Riley (AUS) 11.16 Def. Chris Salisbury (AUS) 6.04