Ribeiro and Bulard Win Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian Titles

Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) [Photocredit:Aquashot/aspeurope.com]

SAN SEBASTIAN, Basque Country, Spain (Saturday, July 23, 2011) - Vasco Ribeiro (Praia da Poca, PRT) 17, today won the ASP 2-Star Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian while Cannelle Bulard (REU) 17, took out the ASP 1-Star Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian women's division with commanding performances that left their opponents fighting it out for second place in tricky 2-3ft peaks at the main event site of La Zurriola.

Ribeiro opened his finals account with a solid 7.67 out of 10 in the opening moments of the 30-minute final to take an early lead and place enormous pressure on his opponents. Keeping busy and working on his backup score, Ribeiro eventually sealed his victory with a series of linked forehand snaps and floaters on a peeling right to post another solid 7.73.

"I am feeling really good right now because I wasn't feeling very confident coming into this contest. I broke all my boards just before so I was trying a brand new one but fortunately there were a few waves in the final and I got the scores and the victory so I am really happy."

Ribeiro has extended his lead on the ASP Europe Men's Pro Junior series and sits in a comfortable position heading into the final three events of the series. The top four European finishers qualifying for the ASP World Junior series. Check the Spanish Basque Country surf spots.

"I am very happy about being in the lead and it makes things a lot easier now. I will try and get some more boards for next week and then look ahead to the last pro juniors in Lacanau and Newquay."
 

Cannelle Bulard (REU) 17, totally dominated the women's final of the Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian leaving all her fellow finalists in a combination situation as she amassed a huge 17.23 two-wave combined total. Bulard detonated on a long right with a series of explosive backhand snaps and carves and then found another in quick succession to leave no doubt about the result early in the clash.

"I am so happy with this win and it is my first win for the series and after my second place earlier this year in Reunion I hope this has put me back on track to go for this year's title. I just wanted to surf and have fun and in the beginning I caught a good one as a backup and then I caught a right which was really good. Straight after on the way out another one came so I had two good scores and that was it. I was waiting for the heat to finish and I was smiling so much."

Bulard jumps to third position in the overall ASP Europe Women's Pro Junior rankings and heads into the next event with added confidence and form to reach the all important top two qualifying spots for the ASP World Junior series.

"This is a really important result for me because I had a bad event in Hossegor so I really want to qualify for the World Juniors. I want to do well next week in Sopelana and in the last event in Lacanau."
 

Ugo Robin (REU) 17, runner up in the men's division and surfing in his first ASP Pro Junior final, was one of the form surfers today in the difficult conditions. After an excellent win in his semi-final heat, the youngster was on fire entering the final bout. Despite trailing for the majority of the heat, Robin was rewarded with a late high scoring 7.70 to leap frog into second place.

"For me this is an excellent result because in a pro junior I have never made it past the quarter-finals so just to make it to the final was great and then to finish second is amazing. I have surfed here many times in this event and I love the waves here because there are good rights and lefts so it is good."

Maud Le Car (FRA) 18, placed second behind Bulard and remains in the lead on the ASP Women's Pro Junior rankings as she fought all the way to the end with a solid 7.00 out of 10 to claim the valuable points for her rankings lead.

"She (Bulard) had a really good day today and she caught some good waves at the beginning of the heat and the rest of us only had one wave each of about 2.0 points. I was lucky to get a nice left and get in some turns. I hope I can continue like this because I really want to go to the World Juniors this year."

The Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian provided crucial points for all surfers wishing to build on their rankings towards qualifying for the ASP World Junior Series which kicks off with the Oakley World Pro Junior on October 3, in Bali Indonesia. Surfers also laid their claims on the added prize purse of 2000 Euros up for grabs offered by Surfing Euskadi for the overall best performer in both divisions at the Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian and the upcoming Sopelana Pro Junior.

The Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian is part of the Oakley Pro Junior Series is webcast LIVE and all results, videos, daily highlights, photos and news log-on to www.oakleyprojunior.com and www.aspeurope.com

Oakley Pro Junior San Sebastian Men's Final

1st Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 15.40
2nd Ugo Robin (FRA) 13.03
3rd Frederico Morais (PRT) 11.17
4th Dimitri Ouvre (GLP) 7.80