It’s going to be a busy weekend at Basse-Pointe. The 32 surfers competing in the fifth round of the Martinique Surf Pro will be back out on the long and powerful right-handers in Martinique, which are now known the world over. This will be followed by the sixth round bringing together the final sixteen competitors. Then, the serious stuff begins with the quarter finals, the semis and the final itself, which on Sunday will determine the winner of the second Martinique Surf Pro, who will follow in the footsteps of the Hawaiian, Joshua Moniz. Taking into account the great show we saw in the first four rounds, we can look forward to a very high standard in the final section of this event.
The 32 surfers, who remain in the contest (see the list below) in the 2016 Martinique Surf Pro were invited to turn up today (Friday) at noon at the competition site in Basse-Pointe. It was announced that the fifth round would begin on Saturday. “A swell coming in from the north is expected tomorrow (Saturday) and will grow on Sunday,” explained Nicolas Ursulet, the organizer of the Martinique Surf Pro with Nicolas Clémenté. “These fine conditions will allow the surfers to carry out some great maneuvers. From the fifth round to the final on Sunday, there will be ten hours of competition of a very high standard.”
Finishing in style
As a reminder, 140 surfers were registered for the second Martinique Surf Pro, the only Caribbean leg in 2016 in the Qualifying Series (QS) of world surfing. The event began on Sunday 17th April with the first rounds completed in two and a half days (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning). “The surfers took advantage of some great waves and the standard was even higher than last year. There were some fantastic performances, some upsets and some surprises. It should be a magnificent end to the competition,” declared Nicolas Ursulet, who is very positive about how things have gone. “We hope that things will build over the weekend to finish in style on Sunday. The line-up is exceptional and the surfers remaining in the competition are stars in the sport.”
Because it is the weekend, the crowds are expected to turn out in force to admire the skill of the 32 remaining surfers from five continents, who wish to follow in the footsteps of the Hawaiian, Joshua Moniz, the winner of the first edition, who was however eliminated from the outset in the competition this year. For the fifth round, they will be divided up into eight pools of four. In each heat, the first two will continue in the competition, with the others returning home. The sixth round will therefore bring together 16 surfers (four heats with four surfers). Eight will qualify for the quarter finals, which are due to take place on Sunday morning. At this stage of the competition, they will shift to duels. One surfer will be eliminated and one will qualify, right up until the final on Sunday, which will determine the name of the winner of the 2016 Martinique Surf Pro, who will grab 3000 points in the QS. He will leap up the rankings in the qualifying circuit. Before that a gala night is scheduled with several concerts taking place tomorrow (Saturday) from 8 p.m. in the car park at the festival hall in Basse-Pointe.
The line-up for the fifth round of the 2016 Martinique Surf Pro:
7 Brazilians: Marco Fernandez, Ian Gouveia, Alan Donato, Jesse Mendes, Willian Cardoso, Deivid Silva and Rafael Teixeira
7 Frenchmen: Diego Mignot, Marc Lacomare, Andy Crière, Vincent Duvignac, Timothée Bisso (Guadeloupe), Charly Martin (Guadeloupe) and Medi Veminardi (Reunion Island)
5 Americans: Patrick Gudauskas, Brett Simpson, Asher Nolan, Griffin Colapinto and Evan Geiselman
3 Portuguese: Jose Ferreira, Frederico Morais and Vasco Ribeiro
2 Spaniards: Aritz Arranburu and Gonzalo Zubizarreta
2 Australians: Ethan Ewing and Luke Hynd
1 from Japan: Hiroto Ohhara
1 from Barbados: Joshua Burke
1 from Peru: Lucca Mesinas
1 South African: Slade Prestwich
1 Argentinean: Santiago Muniz
1 Hawaiian: Seth Moniz
CLICK HERE to check the results of the day.
Official website for the event:
https://www.martiniquesurfpro.com/
The website will be regularly updated throughout the competition.
You can find there the daily rankings, articles, videos, as well as a selection of the best photos of the day.
Photo arrangements:
HD photos can be downloaded directly from the press release or from the media server on the Martinique Surf Pro website: http://martiniquesurfpro.com/index.php/media/
HD photos are available free of rights for press use only on the website.
They may not be used for any communications or commercial use other than by the organizers of the Martinique Surf Pro and the official partners to the event.
Please remember to add the photo credit to each picture.
If you have any particular requests, please contact Fabrice Thomazeau: fabrice.thomazeau@mer-media.com
TV Arrangements:
From Sunday 17th April, the organizers of the Martinique Surf Pro will make available to TV stations and photo agencies the Highlights and daily news reels as well as a clip lasting several minutes with the highlights of the competition on the final day of the event.
All of the video footage will be available after accreditation on the media download server:
http://martiniquesurfpro.com/index.php/media/
Live
Follow the live video show on the site Martinique Surf Pro website until Tuesday. From Wednesday, the live show is available on the Surf + channel thanks to the partner Canal Plus.
