Che Stang : photo Aquashot/ ASPEurope

Ocean & Earth Pro
Presented by La Caja de Canarias

ASP 4 Star WQS Mens Event
Las Palmas,Gran Canaria-Canaries
6 - 12 October 2008 

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc 

Ocean & Earth Pro Defending Champion Muscroft Strikes Back, Stang Shines

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 October, 2008 : - - EL Confital, Gran Canaria  – Day 2 of the ASP WQS 4-Star Ocean & Earth Pro was another excellent show with twenty heats held in side on-shore wind blown three to four foot (1 to 1.2 meter) waves at El Confital. Round 2 and 3 were wrapped up in the afternoon and sixteen men only remain in contention for the valuable 1500 ratings' points going to the winner.

Top seeds dominated proceedings with ASP Top 45 members leading the charge throught to Round 4 where they will meet with top ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) campaigners

Defending champion Nic Muscroft (AUS) stayed in reach of a second consecutive title today after advancing in an all-Australian high-level battle ahead of Daniel Ross (AUS), last year's equal 3rd in the Ocean & Earth Pro. Muscroft got through both Round 2 and 3 today and seems in excellent form and in rhythm with the waves.

"I am definitely happy with that heat because it was pretty tricky," Muscroft said. "It is all about catching the better waves and I got a couple of 8 pointers which is not too bad today. I am stoked to be through that one and I hope I can make another final this weekend."

Muscroft, who was awarded a replacement wildcard for the ASP World Tour, competed at most Dream Tour events and all major WQS contests and has secured some valuable experience that can make a big difference against any of his upcoming opponents.

"I have been travelling and competing almost non-stop this year so being in a heat is like a second nature for me now," Muscroft said. "I've had some good time on tour and it feels really good to surf such good waves here. I really like the wave here and there are very few places on tour like that so I chose to come here rather to than go to Brazil for the 6-Star event."

Muscroft, who is in good position to qualify for next year's ASP World Tour, is focused on a second win here to add another good result to his ratings' total. Anything else might not make any difference on his Dream Tour quest.

"That is pretty much the plan, to win here again," Muscroft said. "I fell like it is makable and a first place would be pretty good for me. I will just take it relaxed and enjoy the wave quality." His confidence and knowledge helped post an impressive 17.24 point heat score (out of a possible 20), the highest result of the event so far and very promissing for the weekend.

The other inform man of the day was American Che Stang (USA) who easily got through both his encounters with great laidback style and efficiency. Stang, who had a couple of excellent results this year including an equal 9th in the ASP WQS 6-Star in Portugal last August, put on great performances to secure his Round 4 ticket including a solid 16.24 point heat tally (out of a possible 20).

"It is pretty good to surf that kind of waves in a contest because it doesn't happen a lot," Stang said. "I felt pretty relaxed and just waited for the better waves to line up and catch them. It is my first time in the Canarys and that kind of waves is just what I like most."

Stang, who has been on tour for four years, is aiming at securing a solid result here to gain seed points and climb up the ratings to possibly enter the Vans Triple Crown in Hawaii this winter.

"I am not looking at any qualification this year but I definitely want to get some good results under my belt," Stang said. "I am looking forward to getting into the top 100 and entering the Triple Crown in Hawaii. It is all about having a good seeding for next year at the moment as well."

Last year's equal 5th at El Confital and renowned Teahupoo charger Alain Riou (PYF), 25, managed to get through as well today using his striking backhand attack and place second behind rising star Stuart Kennedy (AUS) in a tricky battle. Riou, at ease over shallow reef breaks thanks to a lifetime experience in Tahiti and Reunion Island where he grew up, will surf in Round 4 and is a potential champion at El Confital.

"The tide was going out during my heat and it changed the whole line up so it was pretty hard to sit at the right place," Riou said. "Stuart (Kennedy) won the heat getting the inside waves and I tried to stay outside but it was hard." Riou, who is another surfer who chose not to go the ASP WQS 6-Star in Brazil to surf El Confital, was satisfied with his day and looks forward at improving his result from last year.

"I am not in the race to qualify and there is a 6-Star Prime and a 6-Star in Europe right after this one so I was happy to have the chance to come back to this place," Riou said. "We have better waves here, there is an excellent feeling with a small field of competitors so it is just great."

The upset of the day came with the elimination of ASP World Tour surfers Aritz Aranburu (EUK) and Jay Thompson (AUS). Aranburu, who has had a tough year withtout any significant result, was very disappointed and flew out to Lanzarote in the afternoon to prepare for the upcoming ASP WQS 6-Star Prime event.

Check the Live Coverage 

ROUND 4 UPCOMING HEATS
Heat 1: Evan Valiere (HAW), Daniel Ross (AUS), Clint Kimmins (AUS), Brad Ettinger (USA)
Heat 2: Nic Muscroft (AUS), Brandon Jackson (ZAF), Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY)
Heat 3: Che Stang (USA), Glenn Hall (IRE), Stuart Kennedy (AUS), Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS), Julian Cuello (CNY), Flynn Novak (HAW), Alain Riou (PYF)

ROUND 3 RESULTS
Heat 1: Evan Valiere (HAW) 13.47 pts, Brandon Jackson (ZAF) 12.40 pts, Marco Giorgi (URY) 9.10 pts, William Pasquet (REU) 6.33 pts

Heat 2: Clint Kimmins (AUS) 13.47 pts, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 11.50 pts, Mike Losness (USA) 9.73 pts, Luke Campbell (AUS) 6.90 pts

Heat 3: Nic Muscroft (AUS) 17.24 pts, Daniel Ross (AUS) 14.60 pts, Blake Thornton (AUS) 10.57 pts, Anthony Walsh (AUS) 10.00 pts

Heat 4: Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF) 11.13 pts, Brad Ettinger (USA) 10.80 pts, Anthony Petruso (USA) 9.74 pts, Jay Thompson (AUS) 6.10 pts

Heat 5: Che Stang (USA) 16.24 pts, Julian Cuello (CNY) 13.20 pts, Eneko Acero (EUK) 12.10 pts, Shaun Gossmann (AUS) 9.70 pts

Heat 6: Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 12.67 pts, Alain Riou (PYF) 11.17 pts, Brandon Ragenovich (ZAF) 8.17 pts, Javier Medina (CNY) 5.60 pts

Heat 7: Owen Wright (AUS) 17.73 pts, Glenn Hall (IRE) 10.77 pts, Ruben Gonzalez (PRT) 8.57 pts, Jesse Merle-Jones (HAW) 8.47 pts

Heat 8: Flynn Novak (HAW) 13.50 pts, Adam Melling (AUS) 13.07 pts, Jatyr Berasaluce (EUK) 6.27 pts, Hugo Savalli (REU) 4.36 pts

www.aspeurope.com
www.oceanearth.com 
www.lacajadecanarias.es

Previous reports:
# 1 : Ocean & Earth Pro off today, Start now set for Thursday
# 2 : El Confital fires at Ocean & Earth Pro, Walsh scores ten
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

New! Get the latest news with Surfersvillage News-Alerts

  Updated & Revised European Surforecasts
  More European surfing news available here

ASP Europe - Updates

WQS Contests - Surfersvillage