Halley Batista and Teresa Bonvalot win the Allianz Ericeira Pro

• Halley flies to the top of the men’s rankings;
• Teresa reinforces leadership in the female ranking;
• Frederico Morais and Kika Veselko defeated finalists;

Halley Batista and Teresa Bonvalot won this Sunday, the triumph at the Allianz Ericeira Pro, the third of five stages of the MEO Surf 2022 League, the first division of national surfing.

Halley and Teresa dominated the action on the final day in Ribeira d’Ilhas, being crowned by a good human frame and an afternoon of lots of sun and waves in one of the most charismatic natural amphitheaters of national surfing. An outcome that was decisive for the rankings accounts. If on the men’s side Halley rose to the top of the ranking, on the women’s side Teresa Bonvalot isolated herself even more from her opponents.

The action on the third and final day of the event started before 8 am, with the famous rights of Ribeira d’Ilhas once again providing good surfing in the morning disputes. It all started with the women’s round 3, where Carolina Mendes won heat 1, with Teresa Bonvalot securing the second position. In the other heat of the round, Carina Duarte used local knowledge to seal her passage to the semi-finals with a triumph, with national champion Kika Veselko seconding her.

Then the men’s quarter-finals entered the water, with Frederico Morais starting the day in great shape, beating Tomás Fernandes in an expressive way. In heat 2, Francisco Mittermayer continued his surprising performance in this stage and, even though he was making his debut in the man-on-man phase, he beat Joaquim Chaves. The youth didn’t stop giving cards on this final day and in heat 3 João Mendonça won the duel with João Moreira, setting up a meeting in the semi-finals with Halley Batista, who beat Luca Guichard in the last heat of the round.

In the women’s semi-finals, the action began with a very balanced duel between Kika Veselko and Carolina Mendes, with the national champion and number two in the rankings getting the better of the champion of this event in the last two years. In the other semifinal, the two youngest national champions in history faced each other, with Teresa Bonvalot beating Carina Duarte and re-editing the first final of the MEO Surf 2022 League against Kika Veselko.

After that, the tide forced the race to stop, resuming already in the middle of the afternoon. In the first match of the men’s semi-finals, Frederico Morais showed superiority against Francisco Mittermayer, managing to equal the best wave of the championship, which was already his, with 9 points, and winning with 16 points against 12.35 of the young surfer of 17 years. In the second semi-final, logic remained in the duel between “student” and coach, with Halley Batista’s experience getting the better of João Mendonça’s youth, with 16.50 points against 9.25.

In the women’s final, Teresa Bonvalot started stronger in the first exchange of waves and managed to get away in the first minutes of the heat. Afterward, Teresa only had to manage and with a score of 15.85 against Kika Veselko’s 10.25, she avenged the defeat of Figueira da Foz. An outcome that offered the second victory of the year and an even more consolidated leadership of the ranking for Teresa. At the age of 22, the surfer from Cascais won her 23rd career win in the MEO Surf League.

“It always feels good to emerge victorious”, began by saying Teresa Bonvalot. “It was a slow-paced heat, but I ended up doing what was necessary to win. I tried to understand the best waves and catch them and that was the strategy. This is a wave that I respect a lot, even because of the scare I got here last year, so it’s good to come out a winner”, stressed Teresa, who celebrated in Ericeira for the third time, after the triumphs of 2019 and 2015.

In the men’s final, there was a great balance, with the decisions being saved for the last exchange of waves. Frederico reached the last minute of the heat in front, but with priority given to Halley, who needed 6.66 points to turn the score around. It was already on the sand that the surfers found out about the results, with Halley Batista celebrating, after being awarded 7.30 points, which gave him a score of 14.40 against 13.75 by Kikas. A triumph that made Halley win the yellow lycra Go Chill for the leadership of the men’s ranking.

“It’s an incredible triumph, which doesn’t even seem like a reality”, said the new leader of the men’s ranking. “Kikas is the great reference of national surfing and just to make the final against him I was already happy. I tried to give my best and on the last wave, I managed to turn the result. I don’t even know if I should laugh or cry, but I’m very happy about this victory”, stressed the surfer residing in the Algarve, who achieved his second career victory in the MEO Surf League in Ericeira.

Allianz Ericeira Pro final results:
Men’s final: Halley Batistas 14.40 x Frederico Morais 13.75
Women’s final: Teresa Bonvalot 15.85 x Kika Veselko, 10.25
Female Go Chill Expression Session: Érica Maximo
Men’s Go Chill Expression Session: Halley Batista
Joaquim Chaves Saúde Best Wave: Frederico Morais, 9 points in the semi-finals
Bom Petisco Girls Score: Teresa Bonvalot, 15.85 in the final
Ericeira Best Surfer: Joaquim Chaves and Carina Duarte

The next stage of the MEO Surf 2022 League takes place in two weeks, with the island of São Miguel, in the Azores, hosting the best national surfers at the Allianz Ribeira Grande Pro from the 24th to the 26th of June. In addition to being a very important stage for the national title accounts, the Azorean competition will also be the last of the Allianz Triple Crown, with Teresa and Kika in the lead of the female accounts and João Moreira in the male lead.

On television, the Allianz Ericeira Pro can be watched live on Sport TV, as well as on other official media: MEO facebook, MEO app – available at position 810 of the MEO channel grid, and at www.ansurfistas.com and social networks at @ansurfistas.

The MEO Surf 2022 League is an organization of the National Association of Surfers and Fire!, sponsored by MEO, Allianz Seguros, Joaquim Chaves Saúde, Bom Petisco, Go Chill, Somersby, Corona and Rip Curl, sustainability partner Jerónimo Martins, local support from the Municipality of Mafra, and technical support from Ericeira Surf Clube and the Portuguese Surfing Federation.

+ info www.ansurfistas.com

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and TikTok and see the exclusive content for social networks.