ISA World Longboard
Carlos Bahia advances and continues his search for gold at the ISA World Longboard Championship, El Salvador. Rodrigo Sphaier falls to repechage. Atalanta Batista and Luana Soares are eliminated.
Per Waves Editorial
04/25/2024
El Sunzal, El Salvador, delivered another day of perfect waves last Wednesday (24) at the ISA World Longboard Championship 2024, providing an ideal stage for the world’s best longboarders to showcase their skills in the fight for gold.
The Brazilian team had two casualties on Wednesday, Atalanta Batista and Luana Soares said goodbye to the competition after being eliminated in the repechage. Atalanta lost in heat 1 of repechage 4, while Luana advanced through round 4 of the repechage, but fell in the next heat.
In the men’s category, Rodrigo Sphaier lost in heat 2 of round 4 of the main event and now faces the repechage. Rodrigo is in heat 2 of repechage 8 and duels against Englishman Ben Skinner and Hawaiian Kaniela Stewart. With the results, Brazil fell to fourth place in the team rankings. Click here and check the complete classification.
The fourth Brazilian surfer in the event, Carlos Bahia, did well and advanced two rounds of the main event and remains in the fight for gold. Bahia is now in round 6 of the main event and faces the Japanese Taka Inoue and Kai Hamase and the French Edouard Delpero on the last day of competitions in the Central American country.
“First of all, I want to thank El Salvador for holding this great event in El Sunzal,” says Bahia. “I’m looking for this gold medal for myself and also for Brazil. I got close enough to taste gold last year, and that’s why I’m giving it my all now.”
The Japanese team stood out at the top of the leaderboard, being the only team to keep its four surfers alive in the dispute. Taka Inoue and Kai Hamase, both from the men’s team, advanced to the final day of the main event, while Natsumi Taoka booked her place in the women’s final.
The 2018 bronze medalist has been enjoying each heat and the experience of being part of the team. Hiroka Yoshikawa (JAP) was the only representative from Japan to fall to the repechage stage.
Big names in the sport fell in the repechage or were eliminated. 2019 world champion Benoit Piccolo Clemente (PER) was eliminated earlier in the day by Sebastian Cardenas (PER), who also crashed in his next heat. The 2018 gold medalist and 2023 WSL champion, Kai Sallas (HAV), went to the repechage with Kaniela Stewart (HAV), who is also still in contention.
The current champion, Alice Le Moigne (FRA), obtained the highest score of the event, 9.77 points. Her two-wave total was also the highest yet for women, with a total of 16.44.
