A third consecutive day of action at the Martinique Surf Pro unfolded in excellent conditions again to decide the last 16 surfers in contention for the Caribbean title.
The first big upsets happened as competition moved on to Round 4 and the level of performance rose up a notch. Ex Championship Tour surfer Alejo Muniz (BRA), current QS top athlete Jorgann Couzinet (REU) and sensation Griffin Colapinto (USA) were all eliminated in high-pressure heats today.
Unfortunately for yesterday’s top scorer Couzinet, things took a turn for the worse in Round 4 when the Reunion Island native couldn’t find decent scoring opportunities and fell on a few turns.
In his heat, Hawaii’s Tanner Hendrickson (HAW), 24, had no such problem, able to find a few fun rights and culminating with an excellent 8.23 to seal his Round 5 berth.
“The waves were firing again today, it’s just that when you’re out there it’s hard to tell the really good ones from the rest,” Hendrickson said. “The scenery and vegetation is a lot like home in Hawaii and I really love this place, it’s amazing.”
The day’s highlight was the inspiring performance of Guadeloupe’s Timothee Bisso, 20, a former runner-up in the World as a junior, who kept his hopes alive for a Caribbean title.
“Making it through is what really matters, the level in that heat was incredible and the waves were just pumping,” Bisso stated. “I’m super happy to get through even in second place. I haven’t spent much time at home lately so it’s amazing to come back to the Caribbean, for me Martinique and Guadeloupe are so similar and I feel right at home here.”
Dimitri Ouvre (FRA), 25, a distant neighbor from Saint Barthelemy, reinforced the Caribbean contingent with a win as well.
Kalani Ball (AUS), 20, started his season strong with two second places in Australia and continued to show excellent form in the long rights of Basse-Pointe to advance into Round 5. In his second season amongst the Qualifying Series, Ball showed maturity and experience beyond his years to take an important win.
“These are the best waves I’ve had for a QS in like a year so it was worth the mission to get here,” Ball admitted. “I learned a lot last year and I think I’m not trying to safety surf anymore, but rather trying to do my biggest turns cause it’s the only way to get through heats like this.”
Diego Mignot (FRA), 20, led the French-Mexican family into a joint effort to reach the finals, and put together a come-from-behind victory, courtesy of an inside double-up surfed brilliantly for an excellent 8.27. Unfortunately his cousin Nomme suffered a different fate as he was left chasing an average score to qualify but started on a last effort right after the buzzer.
“I was trying to wait for the bombs but was down on luck, they were all close outs, so I tried to adapt,” Mignot analyzed. “I got a first decent score and stayed on the inside, luckily I got that awesome little double-up for an 8+ so I’m stoked to make it through this important day.”
Other big performances today came from French power goofy foot Marc Lacomare and Aussie Jackson Baker.
With conditions expected to degrade over the coming couple of days, event officials have opted for a 12PM (noon) call on Tuesday to re-assess conditions.
The Martinique Surf Pro is scheduled from April 1-8, 2017 at Basse Pointe, Martinique – France. For all results, photos, video highlights and press releases, log on to worldsurfleague.com.
UPCOMING MARTINIQUE SURF PRO ROUND 5 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Marc Lacomare (FRA), Miguel Tudela (PER), Yuri Goncalves (BRA), Bino Lopes (BRA)
Heat 2: Tanner Hendrickson (HAW), Noe Mar McGonagle (CRI), Kalani Ball (AUS), Lucas Silveira (BRA)
Heat 3: Diego Mignot (FRA), Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Jackson Baker (AUS), Ricardo Christie (NZL)
Heat 4: Dimitri Ouvre (FRA), Rafael Teixeira (BRA), Soli Bailey (AUS), Timothee Bisso (GLP)
MARTINIQUE SURF PRO ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 17.44, Noe Mar McGonagle (CRI) 16.33, Griffin Colapinto (USA) 15.40, Charly Quivront (FRA) 14.67
Heat 2: Yuri Goncalves (BRA) 16.53, Lucas Silveira (BRA) 15.43, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.30, Hiroto Arai (JPN) 8.06
Heat 3: Tanner Hendrickson (HAW) 14.36, Miguel Tudela (PER) 13.96, Jorgann Couzinet (REU) 13.07, Kaito Ohashi (JPN) 8.83
Heat 4: Kalani Ball (AUS) 16.23, Bino Lopes (BRA) 16.03, Santiago Muniz (ARG) 15.77, Shun Murakami (JPN) 14.83
Heat 5: Diego Mignot (FRA) 14.90, Rafael Teixeira (BRA) 14.33, Charly Martin (GLP) 13.44, Deivid Silva (BRA) 13.37
Heat 6: Jackson Baker (AUS) 18.17, Timothee Bisso (GLP) 17.74, Victor Bernardo (BRA) 15.00, Adrian Garcia (PER) 12.17
Heat 7: Dimitri Ouvre (FRA) 15.26, Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 12.33, Nomme Mignot (FRA) 11.17, Robson Santos (BRA) 10.83
Heat 8: Soli Bailey (AUS) 13.77, Ricardo Christie (NZL) 13.64, Brian Toth (PRI) 12.83, Adrien Toyon (FRA) 12.10
REMAINING MARTINIQUE SURF PRO ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 9: Deivid Silva (BRA) 15.16, Adrian Garcia (PER) 12.37, Arthur Lassee (MTQ) 11.40, Luke Dillon (GBR) 7.03
Heat 10: Diego Mignot (FRA) 15.27, Timothee Bisso (GLP) 13.60, Louis Gillick (AUS) 12.43, Shane Campbell (AUS) 11.77
Heat 11: Jackson Baker (AUS) 15.04, Charly Martin (GLP) 14.53, Tristan Guilbaud (FRA) 14.03, Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 10.40
Heat 12: Victor Bernardo (BRA) 14.86, Rafael Teixeira (BRA) 14.63, Heremoana Luciani (PYF) 14.60, Pedro Neves (BRA) 10.83
Heat 13: Nomme Mignot (FRA) 14.33, Brian Toth (PRI) 12.06, Hiroto Ohhara (JPN) 11.64, Imaikalani Devault (HAW) 10.77
Heat 14: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) 17.30, Ricardo Christie (NZL) 14.46, Weslley Dantas (BRA) 11.83, Joaquin Del Castillo (PER) 9.00
Heat 15: Adrien Toyon (FRA) 17.56, Dimitri Ouvre (FRA) 13.96, Luel Felipe (BRA) 13.70, Yage Araujo (BRA) 11.53
Heat 16: Soli Bailey (AUS) 16.40, Robson Santos (BRA) 15.07, Taylor Clark (USA) 12.24, Mateus Herdy (BRA) 12.00
Nicolas Leroy (WSL)
