Ouvre and Cloarec Tame Stormy Conditions at ASP Islas Canarias Santa Pro Junior

Tom Cloarec (FRA) [Photocredit:Aquashot/aspeurope.com]

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands (Thursday, May 12, 2011) - The Asp 3-Star Islas Canarias Santa Pro Junior, Event nº3 of 7 on the ASP Europe Men's Pro Junior Series ran through to complete Round Two with standout surfers Dimitri Ouvre (BRB) 19, and french surfer Tom Cloarec (FRA) 17, leading the remaining Top Seeds through stormy on-shore conditions in peaky 3-4ft waves at La Cicer.

Surfers competing at the Islas Canarias Santa Pro Junior are out to claim the valuable ranking points on offer at this 3-Star rated event and place themselves in the race for the overall European Pro Junior title and the chance to compete in the ASP World Junior Series starting in Bali, Indonesia on October 3, 2011.

Find out more about surfing in Gran Canaria by checking out our surf spot map.

Ouvre, who won last week's Somo Pro Junior, continued his run of form opening his account with a solid ride to control the heat. With minutes remaining Ouvre tore apart a peeling left wall with three critical snaps in the pocket to lock in an 8.57 out of 10, the highest single-wave score of the event.

"It is really hard out there today. There are some fun set waves but you have to wait for the good ones and sometimes it is difficult because you see so many waves coming through. You have to wait for the bigger ones to get the good scores but at the same time it is hard too."

Ouvre's surfing and his relaxed approach to competitive surfing has shown positive results so far this year and the current leader on the Asp European Men's Pro Junior series looks set to put in a big performance on the Pro Junior rankings in 2011.

"I have no pressure on me and I want to take it heat after heat. It is ok if I lose but I want to win for sure another Pro Junior. I want to surf and I am feeling confident but not too much which is good."
"This is a good place to make a contest," explained Ouvre about La Cicer. "Sure there are waves in Canarias which are better but here is good for a contest because there are many waves and you are not going to lose because you can't get any waves. You take your waves for sure and you are going to have your two scores."

Tom Cloarec (FRA) 17, ignited in his early morning heat as he destroyed a long left with fully committed fins-free forehand snaps to claim an 8.43 out of 10. Cloarec showed loads of speed and flow to highlight his performance in the tough conditions on offer to advance through to Round Three ahead of Ethan Egiguren (EUK) who placed second.

"In the beginning of the heat I didn't get any good waves but then that left came in and I surfed it well and I got an 8. It is a fun wave to surf if you can catch the good one."
"I prefer to surf the lefts," continued Cloarec. "I saw that they would be better during my heat so my plan was to try and find them. I want to get a result here but I am trying not to think about it too much and just concentrate on my surfing."

Kieren Bulard (REU) 19, impressed in the tricky conditions with flowing rail turns despite the battering winds and face chop on the shifting peaks. Building on his initial scores, Bulard finished with the modest total of 9.17 out of 20 to take out a low scoring encounter.

"It is smaller today and I caught a couple of mushy waves but I am happy because in the end I got through my heat. I got a 5-point ride and then after that I tried to catch a good wave to build on my scores but I didn't find a better wave. It was ok because no one else found another good wave either. I wasn't nervous because I saw that the others were scoring low, getting 2 or 3 point rides."

Bulard, ranked nº17 on the Asp European rankings, is concentrating on the higher rated Pro Junior events for his 2011 campaign and made his first appearance after his 9th place finish on home soil in Reunion Island last month.

"This is my second event after the Reunion Island Pro Junior. I arrived in France one month ago to do my practical studies as a coach and I have been surfing and training in Seignosse."
 

Pierre-Valentin Laborde (Hossegor, FRA) 19, one of Europe's most experience campaigners, showed his talents on the moving peaks with a powerful display of forehand gouges and committed close-out turns to cruise through to the next Round.

"When you get a wave you don't know if it will be a good one or not so I tried to do at least one big turn to try and build up some scores. I have some good boards here with me but it is so difficult to surf out there because it is so mushy so I used a normal board and it went good in today's conditions."
"This is my last year as a junior," stated Laborde. "I did the Reunion Pro Junior and came fifth there so I am pretty confident at the moment and I want to be in the race for the European title."
 

Charly Termeau (Hossegor, FRA) 14, one of the youngest competitors in the Islas Canarias Santa Pro Junior, advanced in second place behind Laborde in a tight battle over Pedro Berasaluce (EUK) and local Kai Garcia (CNY). Termeau clinched his place in the next Round with a series of flowing forehand snaps to secure a 5.17 out of 10.

"I am happy with the result because I was against guys who are older than me and it is not easy for me to pass heats. The right I caught was probably the best of the heat but it was not the perfect wave so it is difficult to surf out there. I got through to Round Three in Somo last week and I want to do better here again."

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