The renowned surfers Eduar Santana, Manuel Selman, Victor Peralta, and the great promise Gian Marcos Oliva, won first places in the Junior, Open, Master, and Mini Junior Surf in the Third Annual Encuentro Surf Challenge, held at Playa Encuentro in Cabarete, on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, February 20, 2010.
The event was organized by surfing instructors Mr. Ken Gei Fung and Mr. Ronald Quevedo and received support from local sponsors and the Federación Dominicana de Surf (FEDOSURF).
Many athletes in the sport of surfing from the Dominican Republic, including several foreign nationals from Latin America, competed in The Encargo Group Encuentro Surf Challenge 2010.
In the Open Surf category, Manuel Selman won First Place. Selman is a Chilean professional surfer who lives in Cabarete and competes on the international circuit.
Junior Gomez of Rio San Juan, took Second Place and achieved a high level of performance despite a knee injury. Gomez was awarded Athlete of the Year 2009 from the Dominican Republic Olympic Committee The surfers delighted and amazed the audience with innovative maneuvers in the finals.
In Third place in the Open Category was Robert Flores, also from Rio San Juan, followed by Fourth Place, Angel Compres of Cabarete, showing a high level of competition throughout their rounds.
In the Junior level, Eduar Santana of Cabarete received First Place and is the current leader of the national ranking in the Open Category. In second place was Kristof Kele, followed by Jobe Marte, both from Sosua. In fourth place was Gian Marcos Oliva of Cabarete.
Importantly, Gian Marcos Oliva, a finalist in two categories, won first place in the Mini Junior against Daniel Santana of Cabarete. Following in third place Chuchi Kirkman. All of them, at their young ages, are displaying a high level of surfing in the championships, and are very promising for the sport of surfing in the Dominican Republic.
At the Master level, Cabarete locals Victor Peralta received First Place and Eric Franco Second. Ivan Miolán and Marcos Saint Hilaire, both from Santo Domingo, received Third and Fourth place respectively.
Expression Session Awards for the most radical maneuvers of the event were crowned to surfers Pedro Fernandez of Santo Domingo and Manuel Selman from Chile, who both displayed spectacular aerials competing in their series.
The judging panel was led by Venezuelan Heriberto Tinoco and supported by national judges, Jesmarin Puente and Julio Matias. Sebastian and Martin Jajam, of Chile, also served as judges. Nelson Nivar was Beach Marshall, and Obdulio Luna and Jose Leroy participated as official photographer and videographer for the event.
The tournament was concluded on Saturday night at LAX bar in Cabarete, with an award ceremony, bikini contest, and fire show.