Whatshot
At the E.Leclerc Pont L'Abbe Junior Pro La Torche
At the E.Leclerc Pont L'Abbe Junior Pro La Torche
La Torche, Finistère - Bretagne, France, where local surfer Tiago Carrique and Mafalda Lopes (PRT) won the E.Leclerc Pont L'AbbÈ Junior Pro La Torche last week, claiming victory in the Final bouts against Kauli Vaast (FRA) and Ellie Turner (GBR) respectively, held in clean two-to-three foot surf at La Torche.
Stop No. 3 on the 2019 World Surf League (WSL) European Junior Qualifying Series (JQS), the second edition of the E.Leclerc Pont L'AbbÈ Junior Pro La Torche had to negotiate with a tricky forecast but conditions came together on finals day to crown the 2019 event winners.
Tiago Carrique (FRA) and Kauli Vaast (FRA), both attacking the lefts on their forehand, were the clear standouts all week, posting numerous high scores on their way to the Final. The show got underway, the surfer from Biarritz, Carrique went on to dominate the Final from start to finish. Vaast multiplied his attempts to get back in the lead but couldn't quite produce the excellent surfing he'd been showing all week and Carrique was carried up the beach victorious for the first time on the WSL European Junior Qualifying Series. "I'm over the moon to finally take out my first Pro Junior," Carrique said.
Portuguese up-and-comer Mafalda Lopes (PRT) arrived in Brittany leading the European rankings and blasted through her rounds, collecting four consecutive heat wins with good scores. Ellie Turner (GBR), sitting second on the rankings, had a similar road to the final except for a second place in her opening round, and logically both surfers met in the Final.
Lopes wasted no time and found a great wave in the opening minutes to lay down her progressive turns and put a solid number on the board. The young goofy foot perfectly linked her manoeuvres and never looked threatened in the Final.
Lopes also claimed her first-ever WSL event win in La Torche and further extends her lead on the European rankings heading into a long break before the next step in Sopela this summer.
"Winning an event has been my goal since I started competing on the junior tour so I'm beyond happy to finally make it happen," Lopes said.
Meanwhile down under in Coolangatta, Queensland Australia, some of the world's top surfers have converged on the Gold Coast ahead of the 2019 Gold Coast Open presented by Flight Centre which is set to kick off this Wednesday, and will see surfers from all over the globe battling it out head-to-head for valuable World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) points. The event includes a WSL QS 1,500 rated event, as well as a WSL Pro Junior event and will run over 6 full days from the 7th to the 12th of May.