The Surf-Freestyle Finals for Day 5 in New Zealand

The competition site was moved again to Pilot Bay, where we completed the full Surf-Freestyle elimination for both men and women.

After a 10am rider’s briefing, the decision was made to move location to Pilot Bay, where the wind was blowing between 13 to 15 knots from the early morning. The full Surf-Freestyle elimination was completed, crowning Chris Mac Donald and Nia Suardiaz as our Surf-Freestyle disciple winners for this first event of the season.

MEN’S SURF-FREESTYLE DIVISION

Men’s Round 1 was completed first, with all of the top seeded riders advancing. The standout heat of the round went to newcomer Cash Berzolla, who gained a top overall score of 19.33 points. His clean and powered Front Flip scored him 7.93 points.

By 1pm we advanced into Round 2 where the action started to intensify and the level of the tricks went up a notch. Camille Bouyer started the round by nailing a 20.90 point heat and eliminating Lilian Juppet. Alan Fedit also continued with his solid form from the previous round, allowing him a spot in the Quarter Finals. The best heat of the round saw Chris Mac Donald score an impressive 23.83 point heat, eliminating another young rider, Cash Berzolla from the competition.

QUARTER FINALS

Our current World Champion, Malo Guenole, landed a clean FS7 forthefirst heat of the Quarter Finals, advancing through to the next round and eliminating Camille Bouyer from the competition. Alan Fedit was a man on a mission today, and he defeated Titouan Galea, who struggled to land his top tricks.

Ancor Sosa managed to narrowly beat Francesco Cappuzzo for a spot in the Semi Finals as Capuzzo struggled with the lighter wind conditions

One of the best heats of the day saw Bastien Escofet battle with Chris Mac Donald, both landing high scoring tricks throughout, with Chris advancing through by just a fraction of a point.

SEMI FINALS

Malo Guenole went all in against Alan Fedit with his Front Side 7 scoring giving him the lead and the spot in the finals.

Christopher Mac Donald managed to ride another impressive heat defeating Ancor Sosa who has been riding incredibly well also. Mac Donald secured his spot in the final.

THE FINAL

The final was a showdown between two of the youngest riders on tour. Our current World Champion Malo Guenole vs Chris Mac Donald. Both went trick for trick, with Chris opening with a 7.43 point Back Flip. Malo responded with an outstanding 8.63 point Front Side 7. Chris continued building scores, nailing a Front Side 7 and Front Flip, and just managed to steal the win from Mal by 0.8 points. An incredible final from two of the strongest athletes on tour.

WOMEN’S DIVISION

Bowien van der Linden started her day strong with an impressive heat score of 17.37 points for the first heat of the day. Both her and Nia Suardiez advanced from Round 1 directly to the Semi-Finals.

Semi-Final 1 saw Bowien repeat her solid performance, were her high scores allowed her to defeat New Zealand local Aimee Bright. Nia Suardiez faced Orane Ceris in the second Semi-Final. Her Front Side 3 and Toeside Front Side 3 allowed her to gain a good lead and lock down her spot in the final.

The final consisted of two of our strongest riders, Nia and Bowien were matched up for an intense heat. Nia achieved three solid scores and managed to gain an advantage over Bowien, allowing her to claim her first event win of the 2023 season.

With the Surf-Freestyle discipline now complete, the focus now shits to the FreeFly-Slalom discipline for the remaining days of competition. The conditions were suitable throughout the late afternoon, where we completed one full elimination for the men and three eliminations for the women. Bastien Escofet cruised through winning this first elimination followed by Francesco Cappuzzo in 2nd and Alan Fedit in 3rd. On the women’s side we completed three full races, with Nia Suardiaz winning two, and Aimee Bright winning the third.  

Stay tuned for tomorrow as we will be back with more.

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