Nathan Yeomans and Matt Wilkinson advance to Saquarema Surf Pro International round of 48
The eighth heat of Saquarema Surf Pro International’s round of 96 wrapped up at the Itauna beach on Wednesday, May 26th, with America’s Nathan Yeomans and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson rounding out the top two positions.
South Africa’s Shaun Joubert and Brazil’s Caio Ibelli finished in third and fourth place respectively, and as a result, find themselves eliminated from the event.
The conditions prevailing at the beach break of Itauna on Wednesday turned out to be a nightmare for surfers and the event organisers. The contest was initially scheduled to start somewhere around 7:30 in the morning, but the organisers were forced to put it on hold for a few hours after their assessment of the waves. The first round of the event, known as the round of 96, finally got underway at 12 noon.
Facing tough competition along with the difficult surfing conditions, the odds were not exactly tilting in Yeomans’ favour. It was never going to be easy to take on two challenges at the same time, but the American somehow managed to accomplish the feat and come up with a really impressive performance.
Yeomans showcased his experience and skills by catching two decent looking waves to execute spectacular tricks to end the heat with a final score of 15.86. As a result, the surfer walked away with the first position along with a confirmed place in the next stage of the event, the round of 48.
Australia’s Wilkinson also managed to make the best of the waves on offer and even though he ended up making a few blunders during the heat, he finished with a total score of 13.00 after his two waves. Finishing one place behind Yeomans, Wilkinson also finds himself qualified for the round of 48.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, the Australian surfer said, “The waves were really tough during my heat. I ended up making a bunch of mistakes, but I was still able to qualify. The waves started breaking in different directions and it was a really difficult heat. I hope the next few days bring bigger and better waves so I can surf better than I did today (Wednesday).”
Joubert and Ibelli did not look comfortable out in the sea for even a second. They struggled to find a good wave and when they eventually made their choice, they were not able to impress the judges with their rather shaky and modest tricks. The South African, Jobert finished in third place with a two-wave score of 10.87 while Ibelli only earned 7.86, much to the disappointment of his home crowd.
While 16 surfers have already qualified to the next round, there are still 16 more heats left in the first round, which will feature 64 surfers competing for the remaining 32 spots in the round of 48.
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