The fifth day of competition of Gran Canaria’s Frontón King, the last stop of the 2023 IBC World Tour, started early in the morning. You may say the conditions presented to athletes were dubious and they didn’t pleased everyone. Even so, the competition started with the Round 7 and despite the evident initial apprehension great moments of bodyboarding were observed.
That elimination Round 7 was composed of 8 Heats of 20 minutes each. On Heat 4 occurred the biggest surprise and upset of the day. Hawaiian Tanner McDaniel, ranking leader, lost to Armide Soliveres and Aitor Ojeda, two local boys.
T-Dowg registered two fives (5.85 + 5.60) but the Canaries bodyboarders were stronger and did get the best waves – 8.00 points and a 6.75 – backing up those scores with a 5.25 and a 5.85 points, respectively. Last year Tanner was stripped from the title race in the same round by Australian Lewy Finnegan and Gran Canarian shredder Aitor Ojeda.
This means that Tanner remains in contention for the title, but it is no longer dependent on him. It opens a door for PLC to take advantage and achieve his third world title (after the 2011 and 2016 victories). Costes have raised the FK trophy in 2021, but this time there is, however, one very important detail to take in consideration: Pierre needs to reach the final and win the event!
The 33 years old Frenchman didn’t tremble and entered on Heat 7 calmly, beating his opponents by a very narrow margin (0.15 points). Robin Legros, from Reunion Island, had the best wave of the Heat (8.75 pts), but finished in second place. Peruvian Cristopher Bayonna, despite the good performance, came in third.
Six man-on-man heats from Round 8 were still held during this Tuesday and helped define the confrontations of the first three 1/4 finals heats. Highlights of the day were up to South African Tristan Roberts, Frenchman Amaury Lavernhe, Brazilian Gabriel Braga, Chilean Matias Diaz, and local boys David Pérez and Lionel Medina.
Tomorrow is a lay day but there’s a new call on Thursday morning. However, due to the not so friendly forecast, the comp may return only on Friday. xxx
