IWT x PWA Chile: Wave legend Francisco Goya enchants the audience

Mast-high waves and increasing wind - Matanzas is slowly showing how good Chile can be. After the IWT & PWA World Cup on Tuesday with the juniors and the first heats of the Challengers Round - the trials for the two open places in the men's main field - began, the action continued at full throttle yesterday. Twenty-four riders from Chile and overseas want to be among the pros, including wave legend Francisco Goya.

Wave selection proved to be crucial as the best waves were the bigger, slow breaking lefthanders that offered plenty of room for radical turns. "The day started with strong performances in Round 1 from Diego Ducci (Chile) and Vicente Gonzalez (Chile), who both caught some of the biggest waves of the day and showed excellent rail-to-rail surfing to go straight through to Round 3," writes the IWT in its daily summary. Gonzalez made it through to the quarter-finals, while Ducci faltered in the decreasing wind and was eliminated. Cristobal Zegers (Chile) and Matias Vargas (Chile) showed some of the most radical turns in their quarter-final heat and progressed to the semi-finals

Fin Mellon (Ireland) and Iñaki Maturana (Chile) showed some good aerials to get through their first round heats and into the quarter-finals. Tomer Shamgar (Israel) took it easy, with just enough effort to get through both his Round 1 and Round 3. Jose Priewer (Chile) won a close heat and progressed together with Tato Molina. Kymani Laurent (Guadeloupe) finished the Round 1 heats with a convincing win as he read the waves well and showed a powerful surfing style that caused a stir on the beach, according to the IWT.

Francisco Goya enchants the audience

Crowd favourite and wave legend Francisco Goya (Argentina) missed his Round 1 heat, but took part in the Repechage round, where he caught a beautiful first wave with several turns. This was followed by a breathtaking ride deep in the pocket, which earned him the highest wave score of the day with seven points. In the quarter-finals, Goya continued to show why he is considered one of the most stylish wave riders of all time, but his heat was cancelled after he was well on his way to one of the highest heat totals of the day. The repechage was held in lighter winds towards the end of the day and Goya was unable to catch a wave in this heat.

The other Repechage Round winners still in the competition are Lucas Meldrum (Great Britain) and Nelson Perez (Puerto Rico). The Challenger rounds for men and women are expected to be completed on Thursday, followed by the Pro Men and Pro Women competitions.

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