Good waves produce big scores as competition whittles the field down to 32 in both the men and women's events.
The Pro Anglet resumed in slightly bigger surf and ran through the Round of 64 surfers in both the men's and women's events. Conditions improved from Day 1 and the top seeds clearly lifted the level and posted massive scores all day long.
In the men's event, Ramzi Boukhiam and Vasco Ribeiro were the main subjects of everyone's discussion today. Both surfers are having a great first half of the season and stand in the Top 30 of the QS. Both of them had a great result in Ballito last month, both had a shocker at the US Open, and both are out to build momentum in Anglet before things get serious points-wise in Pantin and Azores.
Ramzi is having a good time, and very dangerous when he is. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
The only difference between them, as weird as it may sound, is purely administrative. Ramzi entered as a top seed and surfed his first heat today. On the other hand, Vasco entered the event late, was on a wait list and started in Round One. He surfed, and won, his fourth consecutive heat today, which means a lot about his current form, but could also be a lot to handle if he makes the final rounds.
"That was a critical moment in between two tides but I found two nice rights," Ramzi said. "I'm having a good season, I did well in South Africa and these next few events are going to be important. I'm stoked to go back to Morocco in a few weeks as well, I'll do my best to try to win it this time!"
Vasco comes as one of the event's favorites for the event title. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"It's the first time I'm surfing here in Anglet and I'm feeling great," Vasco said. "I'm here with my girlfriend and we've been enjoying this whole area, I really like this part of the European leg. This is pretty much the best first half of the season I've made and one or two more good results would be good. I really like all the events coming up so hopefully I can keep my good rhythm going."
The local favorites also made the day with good performances to make their way toward Day 3 of competition. World No. 16 Joan Duru led the pack, Marc Lacomare who's just won in Lacanau followed. World No. 13 and Anglet local Pauline Ado also advanced.
Pauline probably found a lot of similarities with the recent US Open. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
In the women's event, a former World Junior Champ made headlines again. Alizé Arnaud has been quite discrete these past few years competitively, but has been busy building her own business as a surf instructor in her home of Capbreton. She has clearly kept perfecting her technique, as she posted the day's second-best performance for her spot into Round Two.
"I'm super happy, I haven't had much training coming into this event but I feel like I'm surfing as good as ever," she said. "I've launched my own surf school and it has kept me really busy but it's always a pleasure to go back to competing, especially now that I have no pressure whatsoever to have results."
Alizé has no pressure and will probably spoil the other girls' point hunt in Anglet. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
A surfer whose talent is not a secret for anyone anymore on the other hand, is San Clemente's Kirra Pinkerton. The 14-year-old absolutely dominated again, straight off a runner-up finish in Lacanau, to post two 8s and move into Round Two as well.
Competitors will reconvene at 8:30 a.m Thursday for a potential big day of competition again.
Check out all photos, videos, updates and tune in to the live webcast when the event resumes right here.
Secrets of Success from Day 2 at the Pro Anglet
Nicolas Leroy
The Pro Anglet resumed in slightly bigger surf and ran through the Round of 64 surfers in both the men's and women's events. Conditions improved from Day 1 and the top seeds clearly lifted the level and posted massive scores all day long.
In the men's event, Ramzi Boukhiam and Vasco Ribeiro were the main subjects of everyone's discussion today. Both surfers are having a great first half of the season and stand in the Top 30 of the QS. Both of them had a great result in Ballito last month, both had a shocker at the US Open, and both are out to build momentum in Anglet before things get serious points-wise in Pantin and Azores.
The only difference between them, as weird as it may sound, is purely administrative. Ramzi entered as a top seed and surfed his first heat today. On the other hand, Vasco entered the event late, was on a wait list and started in Round One. He surfed, and won, his fourth consecutive heat today, which means a lot about his current form, but could also be a lot to handle if he makes the final rounds.
"That was a critical moment in between two tides but I found two nice rights," Ramzi said. "I'm having a good season, I did well in South Africa and these next few events are going to be important. I'm stoked to go back to Morocco in a few weeks as well, I'll do my best to try to win it this time!"
"It's the first time I'm surfing here in Anglet and I'm feeling great," Vasco said. "I'm here with my girlfriend and we've been enjoying this whole area, I really like this part of the European leg. This is pretty much the best first half of the season I've made and one or two more good results would be good. I really like all the events coming up so hopefully I can keep my good rhythm going."
The local favorites also made the day with good performances to make their way toward Day 3 of competition. World No. 16 Joan Duru led the pack, Marc Lacomare who's just won in Lacanau followed. World No. 13 and Anglet local Pauline Ado also advanced.
In the women's event, a former World Junior Champ made headlines again. Alizé Arnaud has been quite discrete these past few years competitively, but has been busy building her own business as a surf instructor in her home of Capbreton. She has clearly kept perfecting her technique, as she posted the day's second-best performance for her spot into Round Two.
"I'm super happy, I haven't had much training coming into this event but I feel like I'm surfing as good as ever," she said. "I've launched my own surf school and it has kept me really busy but it's always a pleasure to go back to competing, especially now that I have no pressure whatsoever to have results."
A surfer whose talent is not a secret for anyone anymore on the other hand, is San Clemente's Kirra Pinkerton. The 14-year-old absolutely dominated again, straight off a runner-up finish in Lacanau, to post two 8s and move into Round Two as well.
Competitors will reconvene at 8:30 a.m Thursday for a potential big day of competition again.
Check out all photos, videos, updates and tune in to the live webcast when the event resumes right here.
Joan Duru
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