Ian Gouveia and Diego Medina claim victory in Round 2 heats at Arica World Star Tour
Brazil’s Ian Gouveia and Chile’s Diego Medina advanced to Round 3 (Round of 32) at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 3-Star Arica World Star Tour presented by Maui and Sons after emerging triumphant in their respective Round 2 (Round of 64)
heats that went down at the reef-break of El Gringo in Arica, Chile, on Thursday, June 14.
Leon Vicuna from Chile finished just behind Gouveia to claim runner-up place in the seventh heat, consequently accompanying the latter into the next round. Hawaii’s Eli Olson and Chile’s Tristan Aicardi rounded out the third and fourth position respectively,
having to leave the competition field as a result.
The eighth heat saw Chile’s Manuel Selman join his compatriot Medina in the Round 3 line-up after taking a second-place finish. Argentina’s Nahuel Rull and his fellow countryperson Marcelo Rodriguez rounded out the bottom-two position to find themselves
eliminated from the latest ASP 3-Star event.
The intimidating four-to-six foot barrelling conditions had kept majority of the competition field comprising of local and international surfers on the back-foot during the first day and continued to look just as threatening on the second day of the competition.
During his endeavour for a place in the third round, Gouveia had a tough time to navigate through the demanding waves and get hold of a juicy wave. However, he remained persistent and eventually managed to post a 6.75 and 4.25 on the score-board, consequently
finishing with a decisive heat-total of 11.00 points.
“That was a really difficult heat,” said Ian Gouveia. “It’s a tight take-off spot with 3 other people in the line-up and it’s a battle to paddle into a good wave. I couldn’t find any good tubes, but luckily I found some of the middle-sized ones that opened
up to earn the win. This reef is extremely dangerous. Before my heat Carlos Munoz had an accident and cut his face badly, so it’s the kind of spot where you can catch the barrel of your life or get seriously injured.”
Vicuna collected a 1.75 and an 8.00 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 9.75 points, consequently accompany his Brazilian rival into the next round.
Olson barely missed out on the Round 3 spot after finishing with a heat-total of 9.30 points, while Aicardi had to settle for a four-place finish with a heat-total of 1.25 points.
The eighth heat featured a low-scoring affair with all four surfers in the bout struggling to get their hands on a good score. In the end, the local talent Medina and Selman came through after finishing with a heat-total of 7.95 and 7.25 to secure the first
and runner-up positions respectively.
Rull finished third, while Rodriguez failed to register a single score on the score-board. Both the surfers were forced to make an early exit from the competition as a result.
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