| Jessica Becker victorious in the Bodyboard Pro Festival in Venezuela |
| Tuesday, 28 October 2008 09:50 |
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The final day of the Bodyboard Pro Festival was completed at Isla De Margarita in front of a massive crowd. The swell had a bit more size and punch and the clouds parted and created an awesome atmosphere for both competitors and spectators alike. The day started with the Women’s quarter finals and the level of competition was incredible right from the get go. Isabella Sousa (Brz) Natasha Sargardia (Prc) Neymara Carvalho (Brz) & Eunate Aguirre (Spn) all had wins with Soraia Rocha (Brz) and Naara Caraline (Brz) also surfed with passion and flare. Into the semis and the crowd & surf increases allowing for some mind blowing performances. In semi 1 Natasha Sargardia continued her good form as the newly crowned ISA Champion with a win over Jessica Becker. Isabella Sousa struggled to find waves and finished third and forth went to Mayla Venturin (Brz) Semi 2 was equally entertaining as the lead changed hands several times. In the end the experience of Neymara Carvalho and Soria Rocha was too much for Eunate Aguirre and Naara Caroline. The IBA DK event was also being whittled down with the only notable casualty being Dave Hubbard (USA). Dave was the warm favourite going into the contest but the Hawaiian fell victim to the incredible small wave riding techniques of the locals. The Venezuelans have mastered the art of extracting every ounce of speed and power out of the weak swells and always make the right manoeuvre decisions to maintain speed and power thru their turns. The DK final went to the passionate local Jose’ Cristiano with Angelo Fredda (Vnz) Ardiel Jiminez (Cny) and Alberto Colucci rounded off he minor placings. The final event of the IBA Latin American tour was also decided with Uri Valadao (Brz) just managing to hold off local crowd favourite Sergio Alonzo to claim victory. Ngelo Fredda and Alberto Colucci went 3 & 4. Uri Valadao and Isabella Sousa won the IBA Latin American Tours for 2008. By this time the beach had thousands of spectators lining the shore to witness the first ever IBA World Tour final on the Isla De Margarita. The four most consistent competitors hit the water for the final and the standard of riding was amazing. In the end Jessica Becker from Brazil sat wide and made a late charge with two powerful high flying rolls and an ARS that had the crowd going nuts. It was Jessica’s first win on Tour. Natasha Sargardia (Prc) started with an 8.17 and backed it up with a solid second score to lead the final for almost 20 minutes. She lost momentum as the waves seemed to switch towards a punchy wide section and had to settle for second. Third place went to Neymara Carvalho and Soria Rocha was forth. The IBA WWT ratings are now even closer and the next event at Conftal in the Canary Islands will decide both the mens and Women’s IBA World Championship for 2008. All in all the event was a great success and congratulations to Lumar Guittard for delivering a slick professional competition.
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