Zahli Kelly & Gatien Delahaye Crowned Champs Pro Anglet By Oakley

Zahli Kelly and Gatien Delahaye have been crowned the women’s and men’s Pro Anglet pres. by Oakley on Auguest 26, 2018. Australian Kelly took out local Pauline Ado in the women’s final, while local boy Delahaye took out Portugese 2014 World Junior Champion, Vasco Ribeiro in the 9th of 12 stops on the WSL European qualifying series. 

Press Release: -Gatien Delahaye (FRA) and Zahli Kelly (AUS) have won the QS1,500 Pro Anglet pres. by Oakley today, claiming victory in the Final bouts against Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) and Pauline Ado (FRA) respectively held in good three-to-four foot surf at Chambre d’Amour.

Stop No. 9 of 12 on the 2018 World Surf League (WSL) European Qualifying Series (QS), the Pro Anglet pres. by Oakley suffered through two lay days before a new swell came this weekend, culminating today with the finals.

The women’s final was up first, featuring Anglet local Pauline Ado (FRA) and Zahli Kelly (AUS). Both surfers opted to surf the south podium where good little rights were breaking, giving opportunities for multiple turns.

The Australian started her heat perfectly with a long right and a couple of great turns for a 7.17 and the upper hand early in the Final. But Ado knows her waves better than anyone and was quick to find a couple of good sections herself, posting a 5.17 and a 7.10 to get the pole position.

The remainder of the heat featured multiple lead changes but ultimately, Kelly’s last back-up of 6.93 was high enough for the Australian to claim the Pro Anglet pres. by Oakley title.

Winner of her first-ever Qualifying Series event last week in Lacanau, the 14 year-old Queenslander claimed her second title only seven days later and shocked the French crowds with her radical attack of the Anglet waves this week.

“I knew Pauline was going to try her absolute hardest so I just tried to surf my heat and do my best,” Kelly said. “We had super fun waves this week and I loved how you’ve got the different peaks on both sides of the rock wall. My stay in France was epic and I don’t think I’ll forget this place anytime soon! It was cool to surf these two events with some of the really good girls, it was a great test for the upcoming bigger event in Pantin so I look forward to seeing how I do there.”

With a second 1,500 ranking points purse claimed in Anglet, Kelly will move up another 20 spots roughly on the international Qualifying Series and set herself up nicely for next season to enter all the major events worldwide.

The winner of the first edition in Anglet three years ago, Ado came close to a second title on home turf but couldn’t quite overcome the young Australian. A semifinalist in 2017 and runner-up today, Ado was relieved to put on another strong performance in Anglet and will be back next year in her backyard surf.

“It was a good final with a lot of back-and-forth for the lead,” Ado said. “Obviously I’m a little bit disappointed to lose in the final but I’m still satisfied with some of my surfing this week. Zahli was impressive this week and the last and she’s clearly one of the future stars of Australian surfing. I got third last year and runner-up today so I’ll be back next year to hopefully get my title back!”

In the men’s final, Gatien Delahaye (FRA) took on the 2014 World Junior Champion Vasco Ribeiro (PRT) on the north side of the pier this time. The men relocated to find steeper sections as the tide filled in.

Ribeiro had the quickest start with two decent scores but Delahaye was first to put on a solid number on the board with 7.83. The surfer from Guadeloupe stuck to his game plan of surfing the lefts on his backhand and mixed his backhand snaps with good aerial rotations to later a post an excellent 8.60 to extend his lead.

The Portuguese on the other hand continued to work hard on the rights and lefts with his signature carves, building a solid scoreboard of 15.10 but as Delahaye kept pushing the requirement up, Ribeiro was unable to find the 8.66 he needed and the Frenchman took the win.

“It’s unreal to finally win a first event,” Delahaye stated. “I felt like it was my time today and I really wanted it badly, not just for me Brandon Todd (USA) for all the people that support me, my family and friends. This is one of the best weeks I’ve had ever, I felt great surfing on my backhand and doing airs, I knew I’d need that to win over Vasco cause he’s so good with turns.”

Consistent since the beginning of 2018, Delahaye is in his best season on the Qualifying Series, and will likely crack the Top 100 with the added 1,500 points to his tally. The tall regular foot will have a shot against some of the best surfers in the world as soon as the end of September when the tour lands in Portugal.

Ribeiro’s road to the final included beating some of the toughest competitors this week, Nomme Mignot (FRA) in the quarters and Morgan Cibilic (AUS) in the semis. Unfortunately stopped in the final by Delahaye, this runner-up result is his highest finish in a couple of seasons.

“We had a long week with small surf and now finally two days of pumping surf,” Ribeiro said. “It felt great to finally get some momentum going in this European leg, and I was confident I could get the score all the way until the end if I got the right wave. Unfortunately it never came but hats off to Gatien, he’s been surfing really well this week and deserved the win! I had a great time here in France with my family and enjoyed myself a lot.”

Delahaye was earlier responsible for one of the final day’s upsets, eliminating World No. 34 Joan Duru (FRA) in the Quarters. Current QS No. 6 Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) and the recent winner in Lacanau Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) were stopped in Round Six.

With the completion of the Pro Anglet pres. by Oakley, the European rankings have once again evolved, here is the new current Top 5:

European Men’s QS Top 5:

1 – Jorgann Couzinet (FRA)

2 – Andy Criere (ESP)

3 – Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR)

4 – Gony Zubizarreta (ESP)

5 – Gatien Delahaye (FRA)

European Women’s QS Top 5:

1 – Pauline Ado (FRA)

2 – Cannelle Bulard (FRA)

3 – Camilla Kemp (PRT)

4 – Justine Dupont (FRA)

5 – Marion Philippe (PYF)

Surfers will waste no time to hit the road and head towards Galicia where the men’s QS3,000 and women’s QS6,000 Pull&Bear Pantin Classic Galicia Pro starts tomorrow!

The Pro Anglet pres. by Oakley is scheduled from August 21-26, 2018 at La Chambre d’Amour, Anglet – France. For all results, photos, video highlights and press releases, log on to worldsurfleague.com.

The Pro Anglet pres. by Oakley is supported by the city of Anglet, the Région Nouvelle Aquitaine, Oakley, Monster Energy, Picture, Carlsberg, L’Équipe and Virgin Radio.