- João Maria Mendonça had the best score of the race, sharing the best wave with Tiago Stock
- Francisca Veselko also raised the bar with the best wave and score in the women’s race
- Matias Lopes and Teresa Bonvalot won the Go Chill Expression Session.
- Call for the final day scheduled for 8.15 am
The second day of the Somersby Porto Pro competition took place today, the 2nd stage of the MEO Surf League that ends tomorrow on Leça da Palmeira beach, in Porto.
The best national surfers returned to action to continue the race that started yesterday and this Saturday the waves were 1.5m but with a strong current that made it difficult for athletes to find the best positioning in order to catch the best waves.
The Somersby Porto Pro advanced with the second and third men’s and women’s rounds, in addition to the Go Chill Expression Session in both categories. It was a day of action at the highest level with the best being saved for the end of the day with surfers from the first division of Portuguese surfing achieving several excellent scores.
João Maria Mendonça had the best wave and score of the event with 9.00 points and 17.50 points, respectively. The Algarve surfer secured qualification for the quarter-finals with two excellent scores of 9.00 and 8.50 points. In this tight heat in the fight for second position, Matias Canhoto ended up turning around in the last moments, also guaranteeing passage to the next stage. Martim Nunes, the main highlight of the previous day of competition, came in 3rd place and Afonso Pinto in 4th.
Tiago Stock, the runner-up in the 1st stage of the MEO Surf League, was another of the surfers in evidence as he equalled the best wave of the event with the aforementioned 9.00 points, winning his heat with 15.25 points. In 2nd place, also with an excellent wave of 8.00 points and a total score of 14.25 points, was the current holder of the yellow lycra and leader of the ranking, Tomás Fernandes.
Afonso Antunes, like João Maria Mendonça, was another athlete to make a pair of excellent waves in the same heat with 8.50 and 8.00 points, ending with a score of 16.50 points. In this heat he left Guilherme Ribeiro in 2nd place, who also showed a consistent performance throughout the day, finishing with 13.80 points. In this heat, the current national champion, Joaquim Chaves, ended up eliminated in 3rd place along with Martim Carrasco in 4th.
Francisco Almeida, Matias Canhoto and Cainã Barletta also showed good surfing on this penultimate day of the race, having guaranteed passage to the quarter-finals.
In the Women’s category, the current national champion, Francisca Veselko, also raised the level to the level of excellence with the best wave and score of the event with 8.25 and 14.75 points, respectively. In this heat of round 3, the current leader of the Go Chill ranking, Teresa Bonvalot, also had an excellent wave of 8.00 points, going on to the semi-finals in 2nd place with Miriam Julião in 3rd and Lua Escudeiro in 4th, both eliminated.
Maria Salgado and Mafalda Lopes were other in-form surfers who also guaranteed their presence on the last day of the race.
Conversely, Gabriela Dinis, who last year was runner-up in this stage and currently occupies 2nd place in the national ranking, failed to qualify for the day of the finals after losing in the second round to Maria Salgado (1st) and Concha Balsemão (2nd).
This Saturday, 17-year-old local surfer Matias Lopes and Teresa Bonvalot were the winners of the men’s and women’s Go Chill Expression Session, respectively.
Today is the day of all decisions with the crowning of the Somersby Porto Pro champions. The call is scheduled for 8.15 am.
Somersby Porto Pro Schedule (subject to change)
3rd day – Sunday, April 14
8.15 am – Call the third day of the competition
3.00 pm – Somersby Porto Pro Finals
4.00 pm – Somersby Porto Pro Awards Ceremony
Somersby Porto Pro is part of the Wave Series 2024 schedule and can be followed live on Sport TV as well as on other official media: MEO Facebook, blue button on the MEO remote, at www.ansurfistas.com and social media at @ ansurfers.
The MEO Surf 2024 League is organized by the National Surfers Association and Fire!, with the sponsorship of MEO, Somersby, Allianz Seguros, Bom Petisco, Go Chill, Corona, Waikiki, Rip Curl, sustainability partner Jerónimo Martins, the local support from the Municipal Councils of Porto and Matosinhos and technical support from Onda Pura Surf Center and the Portuguese Surfing Federation.
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