GRANDE PLAGE, Lacanau / France (Sunday, August 23, 2015) – Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 23, has won the 2015 Soöruz Lacanau Pro in an exciting final over recent Airwalk Pro Junior winner Nomme Mignot (FRA) 18. Powerful three-to-five foot surf arrived overnight to greet competitors on the final day in Lacanau, a day mostly dominated by French surfers with no less than six out of eight in the quarterfinals.
Wasting no time in the final, Huscenot’s first wave of consequence came in as an 8.50 out of 10, the highest ride of the 30-minute bout. With an average backup score on the board, the Reunion Island native scoured the lineup and surfed a lot of waves, eventually belting a 7.10 to take the win. Big powerful backhand hacks and commitment on the final closeout sections were highly rewarded by the judges on Huscenot’s behalf.
“My first QS win, I’m super stoked,” Huscenot said. “It’s just pure joy right now, especially cause I have friends here with me. I’ve put a lot of work into it and have had some good results in the major events, and I’m really happy it paid off today. When I got that 9 in the semis I think something clicked and I realized I could win it all.”
With the 3,000 ranking points collected in Lacanau, Huscenot will climb up the international rankings and is now closer to a potential qualification for the elite Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour than ever.
“I’m sure this result will help my current situation on the rankings, but there’s a long road ahead still to make the cut so I’ll keep my focus for the future events,” Huscenot continued. “We’re going to have fun waves in the next event and I’ll just try to have as much fun as I had here. A long left like this is definitely something that highlights my surfing, I grew up surfing a wave like that and I’m sure it helped me out here.”
Mignot, who won the Junior division on Monday, had an exceptional run through the week, posting huge scores to best some of the finest surfers on the Qualifying Series for a shot at a double-win, a feat only reigning World Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) has achieved in Lacanau.
“It would have been incredible to win again today, but hats off to Max he really smashed it,” Mignot admitted. “I’m super happy and extremely tired now. It’s a huge boost for my confidence and it really opened my eyes, I’m ready to take on the big leagues. I love what I do and I’ll continue to try and win more heats.”
One of the highlights of the event so far, Joan Duru (FRA) 26, was unable to outsurf Mignot in their two matchups of finals day and placed equal third. Coming in ranked No. 7 before Lacanau, Duru will slightly improve his season tally and move on to the next event in Anglet full of confidence to surf on home turf.
“It was good to make some heat,” Duru stated. “Unfortunately I lost in the semis, I would have loved to win a couple more but it was great to have a good run in France. I broke my favourite board yesterday but I had a good backup and I felt great out there.”
Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 21, fell short to Huscenot’s momentum in the semis, missing out on a ticket for the final for a mere 0.7. The talented goofyfooter who has had a difficult season so far collects his best result in 2015, an equal third in Lacanau.
“I haven’t made anyheats this year so it was great to finally win a couple, and against some good friends like Marco (Lacomare), Joan and everyone,” Boukhiam said. “They’ve all been ripping, all the Europeans and some internationals, it was a good comp’ for me and we had some good waves in the end.”
With their excellent results today in Lacanau, Huscenot, Mignot, Duru and Boukhiam thrust the highest spots in the European title race, closely folloed by Adrien Toyon (FRA) who completes the Top5.
The 2015 Soöruz Lacanau Pro is scheduled from August 18-23, 2015. For all results, photos and press releases, log on to worldsurfleague.com.
The Soöruz Lacanau Pro is made possible with the support of the following event partners: Soöruz and NRJ amongst others.
SOÖRUZ LACANAU PRO FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 15.60
2 – Nomme Mignot (FRA) 13.60
SOÖRUZ LACANAU PRO SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Nomme Mignot (FRA) 16.33 def. Joan Duru (FRA) 14.50
SF 2: Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 15.00 def. Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 14.37
SOÖRUZ LACANAU PRO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Joan Duru (FRA) 17.60 def. Adrien Toyon (FRA) 11.00
QF 2: Nomme Mignot (FRA) 17.10 def. Jorgann Couzinet (REU) 13.34
QF 3: Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 17.04 def. Lucas Silveira (BRA) 16.03
QF 4: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 15.77 def. Marc Lacomare (FRA) 11.26
SOÖRUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adrien Toyon (FRA) 12.37, Jorgann Couzinet (REU) 11.37, Deivid Silva (BRA) 10.57, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 8.83
Heat 2: Nomme Mignot (FRA) 17.60, Joan Duru (FRA) 15.85, Charly Martin (GLP) 11.57, Nelson Cloarec (FRA) 8.13
Heat 3: Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 14.60, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 13.56, Bino Lopes (BRA) 10.66, Pedro Henrique (PRT) 9.93
Heat 4: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 12.13, Lucas Silveira (BRA) 12.13, Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 11.70, Slade Prestwich (ZAF) 8.33
SOÖRUZ LACANAU PRO ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Jorgann Couzinet (REU) 15.56, Charly Martin (GLP) 11.83, Steven Pierson (PYF) 11.63, Vicente Romero (ESP) 9.17
Heat 2: Deivid Silva (BRA) 14.60, Nelson Cloarec (FRA) 13.57, Mitch Crews (AUS) 11.13, Mateia Hiquily (PYF) 6.60
Heat 3: Nomme Mignot (FRA) 11.60, Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) 10.10, Tommy Boucaut (FRA) 9.53, Thiago Camarao (BRA) 6.47
Heat 4: Joan Duru (FRA) 17.70, Adrien Toyon (FRA) 10.90, Jean Da Silva (BRA) 9.90, Victor Bernardo (BRA) 8.02
Heat 5: Pedro Henrique (PRT) 10.64, Slade Prestwich (ZAF) 10.63, Mihimana Braye (PYF) 9.00, Timothee Bisso (GLP) 7.27
Heat 6: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 14.34, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 10.83, Jose Ferreira (PRT) 7.26, Dylan Lightfoot (ZAF) 4.50
Heat 7: Lucas Silveira (BRA) 14.17, Bino Lopes (BRA) 8.90, Miguel Tudela (PER) 7.40, Dean Bowen (AUS) 3.57
Heat 8: Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 14.24, Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 9.10, Medi Veminardi (REU) 8.83, Mitchell James (AUS) 8.40
