Pierre-Louis locks in his 61st pro podium, surpassing the legendary record of 60 podiums held by Brazil’s Guilherme Tâmega, and adds victory 21 to the career.
After a few lay days, Wednesday saw a day of pumping action at Randa Raalhugandu (Cokes), leaving the semifinalists set for the Finals Day of this Men’s Rising Series and Women’s Prime Series event.
The quarter finals went down with heavy man-on-man matchups as the final eight battled it out for a spot on the podium:
- In Heat 1, Nooh Irushad (Maldives) beat Ali Khushruwan (Maldives);
- In Heat 2, one of the most hyped matchups of the day, Pierre-Louis Costes (France) beat Jonathan Vega (Canary Islands), and locked in his 61st career podium, edging 5-time World Champ Guilherme Tâmega (60) to become the most decorated podium finisher in bodyboarding history;
- In Heat 3, Armide Soliveres (Spain) beat Ashraf Hassan (Maldives) by a razor-thin 0.20-point margin;
- In Heat 4, Aamin Moosa (Maldivas) beat Hugo Naude (South Africa) in another super close heat decided by just 0.25 points.
On the Women’s side, Filipa Broeiro (Portugal) beat Nicolle Calheiros (Brazil), Joana Schenker (Portugal) beat Maira Viana (Brazil) by just 1 point; Namika Yamashita (Japan) beat Neymara Carvalho (Brazil), and Luna Hardman (Brazil) beat Sara Abiko (Japan).
In the semis, with a pair of 7 points, PLC beat local favorite Ali Khushruwan, by 14,40 vs. 13,60 points, although Ali scored the best wave of the Heat (8,25). In the second semi, Armide Soliveres sealed the win against Aamin Umar Moosa with 15,50 vs. 12,50 points.
For the Ladies, Joana beat Filipa in semi one (12,25 x 11,00), and Namika Yamashita overcame Luna Hardman in semi two (15,50 x 14,00).
The Men’s final was the first to hit the water with PLC dominating the entire Heat with a 10 point ride and a backup wave of 8,50 (18,50 total score). Armide got 8 points and a 6,50, not enough to take the lead, finishing the event as runner up. With this win Pierre achieves victory number 21 on the World Tour. Wow!
