All Four SA Surfers Advance in the Main Event
The South African surfing team completed a clean sweep of results on Day 2 of the INS ISA World Surfing Games at Jaco Beach in Costa Rica when all four team members in action on Monday finished in the top two in their respective heats and advanced to the next round of the Main Event. Organisers again completed 24 heats, 12 heats of Men’s Main Event Round 2 and 12 of Women’s Main Event Round 1, in slightly smaller waves, extreme tidal variations and conditions that varied from clean and sunny to gusty showers. Shane Sykes (Salt Rock) again led the South African surge, finishing second to Portugal’s Eduardo Fernandes but ahead of competitors from Puerto Rico and Canada in the first heat of the day to progress to the last 24 in Main Event Round 3. Competing in the last heat of the round, Matt McGillivray (Jeffreys Bay) utilised his aerial prowess to grab victory ahead of runner-up Jordy Lawler (AUS) as the pair relegated their opponents from Puerto Rico and Nicaragua to the Repecharge rounds and join Sykes in Round 3. Team captain Faye Zoetmulder (Cape St Francis) fought a gritty battle in the opening heat of the Women’s event, eventually taking second place and a berth in the next round of the Main Event. Zoetmulder ended the heat behind runaway heat winner Lucia Indurain (ARG) and just 0.13 of a point ahead of Christina Vargas (ECU). Tanika Hoffman (Hout Bay) completed South Africa’s Day 2 success story by posting a solid runner-up finish in her opening heat, challenging Ecuadorian star Dominic Barona for the lead and well clear of third placed Josefina Ane (ARG). France’s Pauline Ado was the standout performer of the day with a decisive victory in her Round 1 heat. Ado’s heat total of 17.77 and single wave score of 9.27 were the highest of the day for any man or woman. The host nation’s Carlos Muñoz continued his strong run, delivering the highest wave score (9.17) and heat total (16.50) in the Men’s division Although only two of eight days of competition have been completed, South Africa’s strong Day 2 performance will have raised their confidence in the chase for a team medal. Each of the 26 national teams in Costa Rica already have at least one team member in the grueling Repecharge rounds. Much will depend on the performances of Jordy Maree (Kalk Bay) and Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) as they start their long and arduous campaign through the Repecharge rounds after failing to make the cut in their opening heats on Day 1. The talented pair face what appears on paper to be relatively easy Repecharge heats in Round 1 against rivals from Russia, Switzerland, Guatamala, Nicaragua and Peru today. But with the vagaries of waves, tides and wind to contend with, and the fact that they face elimination from the event if they do not finish in the top two in every heat from here on, they will have to be supremely focused throughout every match-up. Four South Africans will again be in action today at Jaco Beach with Sykes and McGillivray having earned a day off. Surfline, the official forecaster, is predicting that one metre South West swell will continue with some reinforcements on Tuesday, August 8. On Wednesday, August 9, a new South West swell will begin to creep in and fill in fully on Thursday, August 10, providing some testing bigger waves. Schedule: Day 3 – Wednesday 9 August (South African time & SA team members heat number) 3:30 pm: 6 heats Women Main Event Round 2: (Faye Zoetmulder Heat1, Tanika Hoffman H3) 5:30 pm: 12 heats Men Repecharge Round 1: (Jordy Maree H4, Dylan Lightfoot H9) 9:30 pm: 6 heats Women Repecharge Round 1: (N/A) All the action from the INS ISA World Surfing Games, including news, results, video footage, images and LIVE webcasts, can be found athttp://isaworlds.com/wsg/2016/en/ with results and news on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za Article from Surfing South Africa
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