Joan Duru : photo Aquashot/ASP Europe

Sooruz Lacanau Pro

ASP 6 Star WQS Mens Event
Lacanau-Océan, Gironde France
17 - 23 August 2009

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Loan Duru wins the Soöruz Lacanau Pro 2009
First Frenchman in 27 years to win at the French Lacanau Pro     > en francais ci-dessous

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 23 August, 2009 : - - Lacanau Ocean -- Joan Duru (Ondres, FRA), 20, won the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star Sooruz Lacanau Pro today in France after defeating fellow finalist Travis Logie (Durban, ZAF), 30, in consistent clean four foot (1.2 meter) waves in front of a massive cheering crowd. Duru, who had impressed his peers throughout what will be remembered as one of the best editions ever, was unstoppable en route to claiming the prestigious thirtieth edition of the event nicknamed the French Pro.

Grabbing 2500 ratings’ points and US$20.000 for his performance this week, Duru’s result rockets the Ondres native from No. 10 to No. 7 on the ASP World Qualifying (WQS) ratings. Duru became the second French surfer since Thierry Fernandez in 1982 to win the event at Lacanau today, the first French surfer to win an ASP WQS major event in France at the same time.

Duru, who paddled out under pressure knowing a win would significantly ease his ASP Top 45 inception campaign, showed he had the skills to tame the excellent conditions on offer and kept his opponent away from the winner’s place posting a 16.47 point heat score (out of a possible 20) to seal the deal in front of a cheering crowd. At 20 years of age, Duru made history today besting former ASP World Tour elite surfer Travis Logie who had posted the event’s highest heat score earlier in the day.

“I am just so happy right now, I wanted to win so bad I am really over the moon and can’t really realize the result yet,” Duru said. “I felt quite uner pressure throughout the event and until the Semifinal I was just very focused and anxious but I managed to get over it for the final and I really let go to surf at my best. Travis (Logie) never let go off me and he is an impressive competitor so I really played my game and used priority and it finishes perfectly.”

Brian Toth : photo Aquashot/ASP Europe

Duru, who will move to the following event confidently having secured his career best ever result, unleashed a combination of massive vertical top turns and committed maneuvers to get a 9.00 point reward from the ASP judging panel and secure the win. Duru’s No. 1 finish in the ASP WQS 6-Star event not only has given him a serious option into next year’s ASP Dream Tour but also consolidates his comfortable lead in the ASP WQS European Series ratings where he remains ahead of Txaber Trojaola (Zarautz, EUK) by almost 3000 points.

“All light are green and everything is important to me so those ratings are of course in my mind,” Duru said. “Leading the European ratings and possibly winning the regional title means a lot to me and I am pretty stoked to extend that lead. As for the WQS, well, it’s still a long way to go and I will just enjoy that win now.”

Cheered by the crowds while leaving the water in front of thousands of spectators standing at the water’s edge, Duru was raised to the event site ahead of fellow finalist and event runner-up Travis Logie (Durban, ZAF), 30. Travis Logie, who has been on a requalifying campaign since dropping out of the elite ASP Top 45 last year, was left with 2188 ratings’ points, a crucial result for the South African surfer whose performance rockets him to No. 9 on the international rankings. Logie, who posted several of the event’s top scores delivering exceptional backhand skills and heat tactics throughout the event, remained in the race for the title until the last minutes of the heat posting another solid 15.30 point heat result, not enough to steal the crown from French wunderkind.

“I was very happy with the way I surfed and I just didn’t get any of the better waves during the final,” Logie said. “Joan (Duru) really surfed a smart heat and got the best waves and he had been surfing good all event so congratulations to him. It’s a great result and that requalification is always at the back of my mind.”

Logie, who came-up with exceptional powersurfing en route to the final, was at ease in some of the best conditions ever seen at Lacanau and commented about the perfection surfed in the last three days.

Leonardo Neves : photo Aquashot/ASP Europe

“It’s probably the best waves we’ve had on the WQS this year and it’s been amazing the last few days,” Logie said. “It should have been a Prime rated event, I wish it was so I would have got more points (laughs)! The best I have ever surfed Lacanau and it’s great for the contest to get that reward as well.”

Netting another excellent result counting for his already successful ASP World Tour qualification campaign was Californian renowned competitor Patrick Gudauskas (California, USA), 23, who placed 3rd today in the event to add valuable ratings’ points to his overall total. Gudauskas, who was considered one of the best surfers of the week showing an impressive variety of repertoire and tactics, was not able to escape the fast closing barrels breaking at low tide leaving Logie get away with the final berth.

“I am stoked to make this far but Travis (Logie) is a great competitor and I kind of made an error on one wave,” Gudauskas said. “Conditions changed fast and I think it was a good call to go because there were a couple of really good barrels and it is challenging to adapt to the waves.”

Gudauskas, who suffered a testing fate last year finishing one spot outside the qualifying Top 15 at the end of the year, is in a similar situation to what he was at the same time in 2008 but showed his competitive approach was almost out of reach for most of his oppoenents and heads to the next event confidently.

“I love Europe in general and to do well here is great,” Gudauskas said. “I would really want to win, I love Lacanau and hopefully it will happen. That last heat wasn’t my best one this week but the conditions made it hard. Looking at the ratings, I have been closer before and it ended just one spot short so I am just keeping this out of my head and trying to win an event.”

Travis Logie : photo Aquashot/ASP Europe

Other competitor to lose in the Semifinals was 21-year-old Australian Matt Wilkinson (NewSouth Wales, AUS), the renowned surfer known for his spectacular progressive surfing not finding any second wave to counter Duru’s smart heat tactics. Wilkinson, who came to Lacanau ranked no. 6 on the ASP WQS ratings, jumps to No. … after his excellent finish and keeps his quailification hopes alive.

“It’s my fourth semifinal finish this year and it’s pretty frustrating not to get that chance to win the event,” Wilkinson said. “But if I had been told I would come here and get third I would have been stoked. Right now I am a bit disappointed because the Semifinals are keeping me, I am always for Sixes and I can’t get them. I am happy still. I had a fifth at Newquay, a third this week and hopefully I can keep that roll going. The Azores is pretty exciting as I have never been there so I will see how it goes there.”

The ASP WQS 6-Star Sooruz Lacanau Pro is webcast LIVE at www.aspeurope.com and www.sooruzlacanaupro.com  

SOORUZ LACANAU PRO FINAL
1st, Joan Duru (FRA), 16.47 pts
2nd, Travis Logie (ZAF), 15.30 pts

SOORUZ LACANAU PRO SEMIFINALS
Heat 1: Travis Logie (ZAF) 14.60 pts Def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 10.76 pts
Heat 2: Joan Duru (FRA) 11.17 pts Def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 10.03 pts

SOORUZ LACANAU PRO QUARTERFINALS
Heat 1: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 15.43 pts Def. Leonardo Neves (BRA) 7.50 pts
Heat 2: Travis Logie (ZAF) 18.24 pts Def. Austin Ware (USA) 10.00 pts
Heat 3: Joan Duru (FRA) 13.24 pts Def. Brian Toth (PRI) 9.76 pts
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.04 pts Def. Adam Melling (AUS) 11.66 pts

ASP WQS TOP 10 AFTER SOORUZ LACANAU PRO
No. 1, Daniel Ross (AUS), 14975 pts
No. 2, Jadson Andre (BRA), 13350 pts
No. 3, Owen Wright (AUS), 12838 pts
No. 4, Adam Melling (AUS), 12801 pts
No. 5, Patrick Gudauskas (USA), 12513 pts
No. 6, Matt Wilkinson (AUS), 12150 pts
No. 7, Joan Duru (FRA), 12050 pts
No. 8, Brett Simpson (USA), 11863 pts
No. 9, Travis Logie (ZAF), 11326 pts
No. 10, Blake Thornton (AUS), 10826 pts

Check the Full Results

WQS ratings after the Sooruz Lacanau Pro

1	Ross,Daniel	AUS	14975
2	Andre,Jadson	BRA	13350
3	Wright,Owen	AUS	12838
4	Melling,Adam	AUS	12801
5	Gudauskas,Patrick	USA	12513
6	Wilkinson,Matt	AUS	12150
7	Duru,Joan	FRA	12050
8	Simpson,Brett	USA	11863
9	Logie,Travis	ZAF	11326
10	Thornton,Blake	AUS	10826
11	Gudauskas,Tanner	USA	10700
12	Payne,Dusty	HAW	10675
13	Ware,Austin	USA	10575
14	Yeomans,Nathan	USA	9925
15	Munro,Luke	AUS	9665
16	Nicol,Yadin	AUS	9488
17	Hall,Glenn	IRL	9450
18	Neves,Leonardo	BRA	9363
19	Sedley,Leigh	AUS	9338
20	Dantas,Wiggolly	BRA	9313
21	Atkinson,Dion	AUS	9076
22	Dornelles,Rodrigo	BRA	9014
23	Courtney,Drew	AUS	8888
23	Polo,Marco	BRA	8888
25	Thompson,Jay	AUS	8876
26	Zubizarreta,Gony	ESP	8826
27	Gossmann,Shaun	AUS	8788
28	Cloitre,Romain	FRA	8763
29	Gonzalez,Jonathan	CNY	8725
30	Howse,Jarrad	AUS	8625
31	Cardoso,Willian	BRA	8314
32	Ohno,Masatoshi	JPN	8264
33	Da Silva,Jean	BRA	8250
34	Jackson,Brandon	ZAF	8238
35	Toth,Brian	PRI	8139
36	Aranburu,Aritz	EUK	8063
37	Giorgi,Marco	URY	8038
38	Sodre,Yuri	BRA	8025
39	Bryson,Royden	ZAF	7951
40	Riou,Alain	PYF	7851
41	Pupo,Miguel	BRA	7763
42	Hedge,Nathan	AUS	7744
43	Paulino,Pablo	BRA	7713
44	Collazo,Hodei	EUK	7551
45	Moura,Paulo	BRA	7539
46	Robertson,Adam	AUS	7414
47	Zietz,Sebastien	HAW	7125
48	Wright,Warwick	ZAF	7069
49	Muscroft,Nic	AUS	7001
49	Palmboom,Rudy	ZAF	7001
51	Lopez,Cory	USA	6970

Check the Full Ratings

Joan Duru : photo Aquashot/ASP Europe

Francais

JOAN DURU ENTRE DANS LA LEGENDE ET REMPORTE LE SOORUZ LACANAU PRO 2009

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 23 August, 2009 : - - Lacanau Ocean -- Le landais Joan Duru, 20 ans, est le second français à remporter le French Pro à Lacanau Océan (33-Gironde) après Thierry Fernandez en 1982. Grâce à ce résultat au Soöruz Lacanau Pro face au sud africain Travis Logie, 30 ans, Duru prend une très sérieuse option pour son avenir : entrer dans le cercle très fermé du top 45 mondial et participer au WCT en 2010 au côté de son compatriote Jérémy Flores.
 
La matinée débute avec le lancement du premier quart de finale du Soöruz Lacanau Pro, où l’américain Patrick Gudauskas mène sa série, malgré un long tube du brésilien Léonardo Neves noté 7,5 points. Gudauskas achève son adversaire avec un enchaînement de manœuvres noté 6,93 qui, cumulé à son 8,50 points, lui permet de l’emporter, d’autant plus que le brésilien, desespéré, lui vole la priorité sur sa dernière vague créant une interférence.

Le deuxième ¼ voit la victoire du sud africain Travis Logie, ancien pensionnaire du WCT et qui est venu là reconquérir sa place parmi l’élite mondiale. Il pulvérise l’américain Austin Ware avec une vague notée 9,57 points en réalisant cinq grosses manœuvres backside, plaçant sa planche à la verticale, manœuvres très appréciées des juges. Il creuse l’écart face à Ware qui ne dépasse pas les 5 points avec deux énormes floaters défiant les lois de la gravité notés 8,67 points. 
 
Le troisième quart lancé vers 11h00 voit une forte affluence du public venu encourager le français Joan Duru, tombeur hier de Micky Picon. Joan démontre lors de cette série, tout son potentiel et son savoir-faire dans la gestion d’une série en man-on-man, format des WCT. Face au portoricain Brian Toth, il règne une certaine tension au début de ce ¼ où hors mis une vague "up and down" de Duru notée 1,87 points, aucune prestation n’est offerte par ces deux surfeurs. Il faut attendre plus de 5 bonnes minutes pour que le landais réalise un tube backside noté 5,67 points et la réponse du portoricain à 3,83 points, en tête depuis le début de la série.

Joan n’a alors besoin que d’une vague à 2,49 points pour être leader sachant qu’il possède la priorité. Il adopte donc la strartégie de l’attente, très pesante pour l’adversaire jusqu’à obtenir un 6,07 obligeant Brain Toth à devoir réaliser un 7,41 points pour l’emporter. En digne compétiteur qui cherche le WCT, Duru tue la série avec un énorme floater noté 7,17 et se qualifie pour les ½ finales. Son opposant est déterminé dans le dernier quart, en la personne de Matt Wilkinson, tombeur de son homologue d’Australie Adam Melling.

Les ½ finales sont de suite enchaînées sur la marée descendante où les vagues déferlent moins mais sont plus creuses. Dans ces conditions de houle parfaite, Travis Logie mais en route tout son professionnalisme face à l’américain Gudauskas, pourtant leader de la série depuis le début, pour imposer deux vagues parfaites à 6,67 et 7,93 qui lui valident son ticket pour la finale du Soöruz Lacanau Pro 2009. France versus Australie, Duru versus Wilkinson, c’est le duel de cette ultime demi-finale où Joan prend rapidement la tête de la série. Confiant et appliqué malgré le peu de vagues qui ouvrent, Joan est cependant rattrapé puis dépassé par l’australien qui score une vague à 5,5 sur une série de manœuvres radicales. A 15 minutes de la fin, Joan sait qu’il peut prendre son temps pour être leader face à Matt Wilkinson, qui accumule un ensemble de petites notes.

"Il n’y avait pas de panique, confie Duru, je suis venu sur le Oakley Pro Junior pour m’entraîner pour le WQS. Du coup ça fait 10 jours que j’apprends à connaître le spot de Lacanau. Je savais que la bonne vague allait venir". Juste à 5 minutes de la fin, Joan déploie sa fougue contenue sur une vague notée 6,5 points qui le place en tête ; il consacre la fin de sa série à bloquer stratégiquement toute tentative de Wilkinson de trouver une vague pour scorer un 5,68 synonyme de victoire. Le landais explique sa stratégie rancunière : "Je m’étais fait avoir avec lui en Ecosse où il m’était passé devant au tout dernier moment. Cette fois je ne l’ai pas laissé faire !". Pour la troisième fois en 30 ans, un français se retrouve en finale du French Pro !

La finale se déroule sur le spot central de Lacanau Océan devant près de 30 000 personnes massées sur la plage où Duru développe avec constance sa stratégie : il se laisse mener au début, puis changement de programme, Joan prend au piège Travis en adoptant son surf, c’est-à-dire en fracassant la lèvre sur chaque vague prise. Il score un 9,00 points avec des figures à la limite de l’équilibre dans la partie la plus critique et la plus creuse de la vague, ce qui déchaîne le public improvisant une "ola" sur la plage. Le sud africain ne parvient pas à reprendre la tête et dans un applaudissement général, Joan Duru rentre dans la légende du French Pro et se prépare à surfer dans le WCT en 2010.
 

Previous reports:
# 1 : Le Sooruz Lacanau Pro 2009: Trente ans de French Pro
# 2 : Sooruz Lacanau Pro kicks off, Collazo & Pupo shine on
# 3 : Top seeds start strong Day 2 of the Sooruz Lacanau Pro

# 4 : Favorites tame tricky conditions at Sooruz Lacanau Pro  
# 5 : Romain Cloitre Dominates Day 4 of Sooruz Lacanau Pro  
# 6 : Sooruz Lacanau Pro into business end, Riou scores ten  
# 7 : Sooruz Lacanau Pro scores great surf, Melling goes big

www.sooruz.com
www.aspeurope.com

What's your take on this?
Post your thoughts: SV Forum

New Survey: Map Surfing’s future 

New! B2B News ASBE-Surf   |  Receive News-Alerts

  Updated & Revised European Surforecasts
  More European surfing news available here

Press release

WQS Contests - Surfersvillage