Wiggolly Dantas starts off with success on day 2 of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime
Brazil’s Wiggolly Dantas took the win in the 19th heat of Quiksilver Saquarema Prime’s Round 1 (Round of 96) that went down at the event site of Itauna Beach in Saquarema, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 23.
His compatriot Flavio Nakagima finished in runner-up, while Germany’s Marlon Lipke and Hawaii’s Olamana Eleogram rounded out the third and fourth position respectively. The two Brazilians advanced into the second round (Round of 48) of the competition following
their top-two finish, whereas Lipke and Eleogram found themselves eliminated from the contention for the event title.
The point-break of Itauna Beach got blessed with perfect four-to-six foot swells on the second day of the fourth Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME event of the year. The sea was ripe for the picking and the world’s top surfers competing for
a share of the huge prize purse and coveted ASP ranking points were expected to exploit the conditions to the maximum during their pursuit of a couple of big scores.
The 19th heat of Round 1 featured Dantas, Nakagima, Lipke and Eleogram in a four-man battle for the Round 2 spot.
As the battle got underway, Nakagima immediately got down to business, locking his first business-wave to post a near-perfect 9.27 on the score-board. However, he slowed down a bit after an excellent start to the proceedings.
His compatriot Dantas, on the other hand, chose the moment to make his move. Getting just past the half-way stage of the heat, Dantas locked his first business-wave to pull off a flurry of stylish manoeuvres, earning an 8.00 for the effort. He went on to
back it up with an impressive 7.40-point ride to eventually finish with a heat-total of 15.40 points.
Nakagima continued his search for a decent opportunity to capitalise on and challenge his countryperson’s score, but his efforts turned out to be in vain. Scoring a 5.87 off his second business-wave in the final minutes of the heat, the Brazilian surfer
finished with a heat-total of 15.14 points.
Lipke and Eleogram were sent packing from the latest ASP PRIME event of the year after finishing with a heat-total of 12.77 and 9.33 points respectively.
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