The Junior Pro Biscarrosse culminates with the victories of Justin Becret and Nadia Erostarbe in good surf and great weather.
The Junior Pro Biscarrosse wrapped up in super fun three-to-four foot surf on a picture-perfect Sunday at the beach in Southwest France. Here's a breakdown of the event's finals.
The men's Final started with both surfers going on the rights, but while Dupouy managed to put together a couple of turns, Becret's wave was a straight closeout and didn't offer much potential.
Sets became rarer and the scores stayed relatively low for the first half of the final, Dupouy taking a slight edge over Becret with a 10.10 total. But a quick two rides on medium-sized waves turned the heat on the ten minute mark and Becret took the lead with 11.66 points.
Becret continued to improve and put the final nail in his opponent's coffin with a tow-turn combo on his backhand for a 7.83, claiming back-to-back wins after La Torche last Sunday.
"It's incredible to win a second event right away and especially here in Biscarrosse really close to home," he said. "It's even better to surf with Noa in the final, he's like a little brother to me and he's going to get really good."
Justin Becret climbed his way to the top of the rankings under two weeks. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
With these last two results, Becret rocketed up to the first place on the European junior rankings and will be in a perfect position to seal the region's title in the next event in the Basque Country this summer.
"Those two events were very different and I surfed different boards and actually surfed differently as well," he continued. "I probably had a little luck on my side which always helps. There's at least one more event this season, so I'm going to do everything I can to finish the tour really well."
Dupouy starred in his first-ever Final and impressed with maturity on finals day. The 14 year-old surfer from Mimizan just down the coast, posted multiple big scores on his way to the Final, and defeated the reigning European champion Kauli Vaast in the Semis.
Noa Dupouy was a standout this week and a surfer to look up to for the next few seasons. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"I'm super happy to make my first final ever and especially with one of my good friends," Dupouy said. "I really wanted to beat him but he was stronger today and I'm super happy for him, he deserved it. I'm definitely going to be more confident after today, making the final was a goal of mine this season so now I'll probably re-set my goal even higher!"
The Final started with a perfect exchange on back-to-back rights. Both surfers on their backhand performed two turns but the Basque's were more vertical and her score showed with a 6.17 over Joly's 5.17. Erostarbe went on to post a mid range score on a left to put pressure on her opponent.
A few minutes later, she posted another two-turn combo on her forehand for a 6.57, pushing Joly's requirement to 7.57. The French surfer finally got a good score on the five minute mark with a 6.07 but it came too late and Erostarbe walked away with her first-ever win on the WSL tours.
Nadia Erostarbe is the new European leader in the Juniors. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"The waves were really fun in the final and I got two good ones at the start so I wasn't stressing or anything, it was a perfect scenario!" she reflected. "I can't believe it, it's my first win on the JQS, I'm so, so happy. I was in the water everyday and put in the work so it was great to see it pay off. I hope I can get a good result in Sopela too. My goal is to make the Top 2 at the end of the year to qualify for the World Junior Championship."
Super consistent since the beginning of the year with an equal 5th, a 3rd, a runner-up and today's win, Erostarbe takes the lead in the 2018 European junior title race heading on to her home turf for the next stop in Sopela.
Joly continued to improved and reached the Final for the first time as well. She'll move up to No. 4 on the rankings, but the gap in points will be tough to break for the surfer from Anglet to hope qualify for the World Junior Championship next year.
Uhaina Joly is making a break for the top spots late in the season. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"Of course I'm a little bit disappointed not to win my first final but I'm still super happy with the result," she said. "It's the second time I'm on the podium here in Biscarrosse. We had good waves and great weather this week so it was fun to compete here. I'm super motivated, the season is not over yet and I'll do everything I can in the next events."
With the completion of the Junior Pro Biscarrosse, the European rankings have once again been re-shuffled, here's the new current Top 5:
European Men's JQS Top 5:
1 - Justin Becret
1 - Marco Mignot
3 - Mathis Crozon
4 - Lenni Jensen
5 - Kauli Vaast
European Women's JQS Top 5:
1 - Nadia Erostarbe
2 - Anat Lelior
3 - Melania Diaz
4 - Uhania Joly
5 - Ellie Turner
Surfers will now have eight weeks to prepare for the next event on the 2018 European Junior Qualifying Series, the Junior Pro Sopela.
Tune in from May 16-20, 2018 and check out all the photos, videos and updates right here!
Justin Becret and Nadia Erostarbe Claim Junior Pro Biscarrosse Titles
Nicolas Leroy
The Junior Pro Biscarrosse wrapped up in super fun three-to-four foot surf on a picture-perfect Sunday at the beach in Southwest France. Here's a breakdown of the event's finals.
Men's Junior Final: Justin Becret vs. Noa Dupouy
The men's Final started with both surfers going on the rights, but while Dupouy managed to put together a couple of turns, Becret's wave was a straight closeout and didn't offer much potential.
Sets became rarer and the scores stayed relatively low for the first half of the final, Dupouy taking a slight edge over Becret with a 10.10 total. But a quick two rides on medium-sized waves turned the heat on the ten minute mark and Becret took the lead with 11.66 points.
Becret continued to improve and put the final nail in his opponent's coffin with a tow-turn combo on his backhand for a 7.83, claiming back-to-back wins after La Torche last Sunday.
"It's incredible to win a second event right away and especially here in Biscarrosse really close to home," he said. "It's even better to surf with Noa in the final, he's like a little brother to me and he's going to get really good."
With these last two results, Becret rocketed up to the first place on the European junior rankings and will be in a perfect position to seal the region's title in the next event in the Basque Country this summer.
"Those two events were very different and I surfed different boards and actually surfed differently as well," he continued. "I probably had a little luck on my side which always helps. There's at least one more event this season, so I'm going to do everything I can to finish the tour really well."
Dupouy starred in his first-ever Final and impressed with maturity on finals day. The 14 year-old surfer from Mimizan just down the coast, posted multiple big scores on his way to the Final, and defeated the reigning European champion Kauli Vaast in the Semis.
"I'm super happy to make my first final ever and especially with one of my good friends," Dupouy said. "I really wanted to beat him but he was stronger today and I'm super happy for him, he deserved it. I'm definitely going to be more confident after today, making the final was a goal of mine this season so now I'll probably re-set my goal even higher!"
Women's Junior Final: Nadia Erostarbe vs. Uhania Joly
The Final started with a perfect exchange on back-to-back rights. Both surfers on their backhand performed two turns but the Basque's were more vertical and her score showed with a 6.17 over Joly's 5.17. Erostarbe went on to post a mid range score on a left to put pressure on her opponent.
A few minutes later, she posted another two-turn combo on her forehand for a 6.57, pushing Joly's requirement to 7.57. The French surfer finally got a good score on the five minute mark with a 6.07 but it came too late and Erostarbe walked away with her first-ever win on the WSL tours.
"The waves were really fun in the final and I got two good ones at the start so I wasn't stressing or anything, it was a perfect scenario!" she reflected. "I can't believe it, it's my first win on the JQS, I'm so, so happy. I was in the water everyday and put in the work so it was great to see it pay off. I hope I can get a good result in Sopela too. My goal is to make the Top 2 at the end of the year to qualify for the World Junior Championship."
Super consistent since the beginning of the year with an equal 5th, a 3rd, a runner-up and today's win, Erostarbe takes the lead in the 2018 European junior title race heading on to her home turf for the next stop in Sopela.
Joly continued to improved and reached the Final for the first time as well. She'll move up to No. 4 on the rankings, but the gap in points will be tough to break for the surfer from Anglet to hope qualify for the World Junior Championship next year.
"Of course I'm a little bit disappointed not to win my first final but I'm still super happy with the result," she said. "It's the second time I'm on the podium here in Biscarrosse. We had good waves and great weather this week so it was fun to compete here. I'm super motivated, the season is not over yet and I'll do everything I can in the next events."
With the completion of the Junior Pro Biscarrosse, the European rankings have once again been re-shuffled, here's the new current Top 5:
European Men's JQS Top 5:
1 - Justin Becret
1 - Marco Mignot
3 - Mathis Crozon
4 - Lenni Jensen
5 - Kauli Vaast
European Women's JQS Top 5:
1 - Nadia Erostarbe
2 - Anat Lelior
3 - Melania Diaz
4 - Uhania Joly
5 - Ellie Turner
Surfers will now have eight weeks to prepare for the next event on the 2018 European Junior Qualifying Series, the Junior Pro Sopela.
Tune in from May 16-20, 2018 and check out all the photos, videos and updates right here!
Justin Becret
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Junior Pro Biscarrosse
The Junior Pro Biscarrosse culminates with the victories of Justin Becret and Nadia Erostarbe in good surf and great weather.
Important progress was made on Day 3 as surfers fought for their spot in the quarters and semis.
The Junior Pro Biscarrosse winds down towards the event finals in quality beach breaks.
The Junior Pro Biscarrosse continues and the level rises up a notch with the event's top seeds giving a good show.
The red jerseys took out most heats in both the men and women events today.