Basque Surfing is Elite in Challenge Series

aElite BRIR for more surfers. Increase applicants for promotion. This was the goal International Surfing Association (WSL) when I changed the promotion format last year and created a file Challenger series. A small tournament, with only four stations, in it The best of class two surfingcategorized by continents, They were fighting each other to enter the first division circle. Like a stepping stone towards glory.

However, COVID-19 forced Paralyze this novel competition; So the changes cannot be applied yet. For now, the Challenge series has become a reality. that it He is taking his second test, which takes place in Ericeira (Portugal), and Among the elected are seven Basques.

Seven surfers fight with the best in each area for a place in the sport’s top class. Garazi Sanchez, Leticia Canales, Ariane Ochoa, Nadia Aerostarbe and Janier Gonzalez, in the female category; And Aritz Aranburu and Rubén Vitoria, In the masculine, they have achieved advantages to be able to rub their shoulders with the most distinctive and now they are rushing to their choices to continue climbing the stairs.

It won’t be easy since then There are 96 men and 64 women competing for 12 and 6 places, Straight. For 12 and 6 automatic ascents. That is, obtaining it is almost impossible. However, before the first of the four tests of this challenging series, which took place last month on the California coast, Leticia Canales I had several ballots to upload.

great opportunity

it’s more, Getxo surfer competes as European champion; A title that raised him to ninth place in the ranking. Very close to the six award centers. and that is The final score for each surfer will be the sum of the three best scores from five events: The Challenger Series four and the best of 2020. That way, with a 6,500 third-place finish in the Sidney Surf Pro, Canales herself admitted before heading to the US that she “never saw a chance of qualifying for the Division One circuit.” However, those aspirations appear to have waned with the first two Challenger tests.

Namely, that in California, Canales was framed by a very complex group and could not pass the first round. She only added 600 points for the 10,000 points her heroine, Caitlin Simmers, earned. And now, in Portugal, it’s also reduced to the first change: 700 points. So, everything seems to indicate that Getxo will drop some places in the general classification at the end of the Portuguese event.

with everything, The good news is Ariane Ochoa starring. Bilbao, at the moment, is in 24th place. but cStill alive in Ericeira. In fact, she is the only Basque actress who continues to compete in the Portuguese event. It’s already in the round of 32, where the Australian-Indian Robinson will be measured, whatever happens, she already guarantees a large number of points. It should also be noted that Ochoa was the Basque who went the furthest in the first round of Challenger. California. There, the Bilbao woman also managed to make it into the top 16, but there her adventure ended after her head-to-head defeat with Japanese Sarah Wakita. So he put 3500 points in his pocket.

Landis and Hawaii

With only Ochoa living in Portugal, the rest of the Basque cast are already thinking about the final stops of the Challenger series. The third round will take place on French soil from October 16-24; Hawaii will issue a ruling from November 25 to December 7.