– Vasco Ribeiro beat Joaquim Chaves in the men’s final
– Francisca Veselko defeated Gabriela Dinis in the female category
– Halley Batista and Teresa Bonvalot won the Go Chill Expression Session
Vasco Ribeiro and Francisca Veselko won today the Joaquim Chaves Saúde Porto Pro, the second stage of the MEO Surf League that took place at Leça da Palmeira Beach. The final day of the competition, which started at 8:00 am, featured challenging 1m waves affected by the wind and strong currents.
In the men’s final Vasco Ribeiro beat Joaquim Chaves, continuing the dominance he showed during the event, closing his performance with a golden key. In an indefinite heat in the first minutes, Ribeiro imposed his surf with waves of 7.75 and 6.00 points resulting in a winning score of 13.75 points. Joaquim Chaves tried to counter the favoritism of the former national and European champion, but without success, ending up with a score of 7.75 points. It is still a great result for the 19-year-old Portuguese surfer who reached an MEO Surf League final for the first time, presenting consistent and high-level surfing throughout the entire race.
“The first minutes of the heat passed me by, I had to do a reset”, said the champion who has already won this event six times. “My coach says, and rightly so, that the finals are to be won. I’m very happy to have won in Porto, it’s a place I love. It’s a very special victory for me, after many months in which a lot has changed. I have to keep doing the same job. There are still many championships ahead, and anything can happen!”
Martim Nunes and Francisco Ordonhas lost in the semi-finals to Vasco Ribeiro and Joaquim Chaves, respectively. The duo of the new generation of national surfing caused a sensation in this event, presenting critical backside surfing, leaving the competition with a 3rd place ex aequo.
In the quarter-finals, the main surprise of the day happened with the elimination of the current national champion and leader of the Go Chill ranking, Guilherme Ribeiro. With a vertical backside surf, Francisco Ordonhas was not intimidated by Ribeiro’s favoritism and caused a sensation in the first heat of the day.
In the remaining heats of this phase, Joaquim Chaves defeated Halley Batista, Martim Nunes defeated Arran Strong and Vasco Ribeiro defeated Francisco Almeida.
With the results of Guilherme Ribeiro and Vasco Ribeiro, both are tied in the Go Chill ranking. Since there has never been a direct confrontation between the two this year, the tiebreaker is last year’s ranking. Thus, Guilherme Ribeiro will continue wearing yellow lycra in the next stage of the MEO Surf League, in Ericeira.
In the women’s final, there was a repeat of the first stage played in Figueira da Foz, but with a different outcome. This time, Francisca Veselko dominated the final from start to finish against Gabriela Dinis who didn’t meet the waves. The current junior world champion made a combination of strong maneuvers in her frontside surfing, sealing the victory with the best of the women’s event, 7.80 points, and with the final score of 14.05 points.
With this result, Francisca and Gabriela are tied in the Go Chill ranking, with the tiebreaker being a direct confrontation this year with an advantage for the former. Thus, the former national champion will compete in Ericeira wearing the yellow lycra.
“I faced the championship in a positive way”, began by saying the champion. “I train every day, in different conditions, so it was a matter of adapting. In Figueira, I was in second place against Gabi, and now we’re in the final again, I’m super happy to be able to win. It’s always good to have the yellow lycra, it’s amazing to have your name stamped on it. I’m looking forward to the Ericeira stage so I can surf at the top of the ranking. I’m going to Australia this week for the Challenger Series, I couldn’t have had better preparation than winning the Joaquim Chaves Saúde Pro”, she concluded.
The current national champion, Teresa Bonvalot, and the former national champion, Carolina Mendes lost in the semi-finals to Francisca Veselko and Gabriela Dinis, respectively, and left this stage with a 3rd place ex-aequo.
During the afternoon, the Go Chil Expression Session was held, whose winners were Halley Batista with a reverse aerial and Teresa Bonvalot with a frontside reentry.
Final results of the Joaquim Chaves Saúde Porto Pro:
Men’s final: Vasco Ribeiro 13.75 x Joaquim Chaves 7.75 points
Women’s final: Francisca Veselko 14.05 x Gabriela Dinis 5.50 points
Joaquim Chaves Saúde Best Wave: Vasco Ribeiro, 8.60 points
Bom Petisco Girls Score: Francisca Veselko, 14.60 points
Go Chill Expression Session: Halley Batista and Teresa Bonvalot
Waversby Round (best sports performance in round 3): Vasco Ribeiro, 14.60 points
The MEO Surf League returns to the water from the 10th to the 12th of June with the Allianz Ericeira Pro, the third stage that will take place on the beach of Ribeira D’Ilhas, in Ericeira.
On a television level, Joaquim Chaves Saúde Porto Pro could be followed 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 media at @ansurfistas.
Liga MEO Surf 2023 is an organization of the National Association of Surfers and Fire!, sponsored by MEO, Joaquim Chaves Saúde, Allianz Seguros, Bom Petisco, Go Chill, Corona, Somersby, sustainability partner Jerónimo Martins, support local councils of Porto and Matosinhos, and technical support from the Onda Pura Surf Center and the Portuguese Surfing Federation.
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