Mick Campbell and Ian Gouveia prevail in Round 5 of Billabong ISA World Surfing Games open qualifiers
The surfing action continued at the Playa Venao beach in Panama with the fifth round of Billabong International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games’ men qualifiers on Wednesday, June 29th.
In the first heat of the round, Australia’s Mick Campbell and Venezuela’s Rafael Pereira rounded out the first and second positions to advance further in the qualifiers. Argentina’s Santiago Muniz finished last, consequently heading to the repercharge round.
The second heat saw Brazil’s Ian Gouveia walk away with victory, while Australia’s Thomas Woods settled for runner-up place to extend their life in the qualifiers. Uruguay’s Marco Giorgi rounded out the bottom finish to find herself in the repercharge round.
The challenging waves at the main event site did not help the surfers in their cause to reserve a place in the next round by putting up impressive performances. Regardless of how many tricks they had in their arsenal, their options were made limited by the
lack of juice in the waves and their low frequency.
Campbell had barely made it into the fifth round, but the way he surfed under the given circumstance, it was quite clear that he clearly deserved to be this far in the qualifiers and definitely deserved to advance to the next stage.
While he struggled to catch waves during the heat as well, he did manage to earn a 8.00 and 6.36 off two of the four waves that he actually did manage to lock. The heat total of 14.36 remained unbeatable and carried him home.
Pereira, who had done exceptionally well in the previous round, was unable to bring his best to the latest battle. However, a 5.10 off his first wave and an impressive 7.82 off his second took him to a heat-total of 12.92 points, keeping him alive for now.
Muniz was another surfer who had shone brightly in the fourth round of open qualifiers. However, he turned out to be a completely different man on Wednesday. Failing to stay at par with his rival’s performance, he finished third after scoring 10.82 points
from his two best waves.
The second heat of Round 5 saw Giorgi falter after remaining one of the best surfers in the previous round. Taking his place on the top was Gouveia.
The Brazilian and Woods had an intense battle for first place. Gouveia posted a 6.40 off his first wave, to which the Australian responded with an impressive 7.52-point wave.
Gouveia soon moved ahead once again with a 7.12-point wave. Woods required a 6.00 off his second wave to take the first slot. However, he only managed to get a 5.70, consequently finishing with a 0.30-point deficit and settling for second place.
Giorgi scored 11.36 points off his two-waves to round out the bottom position. However, his competition is not yet over, as he still has an opportunity to earn a second life by making a strong impact in the repercharge round.
For further updates on the men’s open qualifying rounds of Billabong ISA World Surfing Games, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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