Aarya Tabalno is the new World Champion
France | Pro Junior
The Zaninoto siblings, the first and only perfect 10 score of the championship, and the crowning of the 2023 Pro Junior Female World Champion marked the third and final day of competition at the La Salie Pro 2023 stage.
This Sunday concluded the French stage of La Salie Pro, a part of the 2023 IBC World Tour exclusively for the junior female and male categories, an event of extreme importance for both divisions, but especially for the women.
The French event would crown, for the second time in the history of the Pro Junior Female division, who would be the world champion. As the last day of competition arrived, Bianca Simões, Luna Hardman, Luana Dourado, Hannah Savedra, and Aarya Tabalno were still in contention with a chance to win the title. Stage by stage, the athletes who initially had a shot at the title were gradually eliminated from the competition, although not necessarily from the event.
In the quarter-finals, Luna Hardman, the reigning world champion, had to advance to the next phase and hope that Aarya Tabalno would be eliminated by her compatriot, Bianca Simões. However, Aarya Tabalno emerged victorious and moved on to the semifinals, thus extinguishing any chance for the Brazilians, Luna and Bianca, to claim the title. We were about to witness a new world champion. The following heat brought together the world number 2, the Peruvian Hannah Savedra, and the Portuguese Luana Dourado. Luana prevailed and remained in the race alongside the Hawaiian, Aarya Tabalno.
Aarya only needed to reach the final to secure the 2023 world title, but the task wouldn’t be easy. Luna Hardman was her opponent in the semifinal, yet after 25 minutes of high-level competition, Aarya secured the victory and clinched the world title. As if that wasn’t enough, Aarya wanted more. In the final, she faced the standout of the championship, the Canary Islander, Mar Suanzes, who had delivered exceptional performances throughout the event with high-level bottom turns and projections. The task wouldn’t be easy for Aarya, but nevertheless, the world champion managed to triumph in the final, securing first place in all stages of the 2023 IBC World Tour in the Pro Junior division.
In the male category, surprises continued. After the elimination of Jorge Hernandez, the world number 1, still in Round 5, his ranking companion Micheel Yancce was knocked out in the quarter-finals by the Spaniard Ethan Perez. Ethan, who later eliminated the sensation of La Salie, Louka Zaninotto, in the semifinals.
Ethan reached the final and continued his stellar performances. On his first wave, Ethan secured the first perfect 10 score of the event and moments later forced his opponent, Gadiel Martel, into an interference, sealing the heat and granting the Basque Country athlete, Ethan Perez, his first victory in the IBC Circuit.
The IBC Circuit moves on through Europe, and from September 6th to 10th, Sintra will host the oldest event of the World Bodyboard Circuit, the Sintra Pro, which could crown the women’s division world champion. Stay tuned!
?: @janeeblz
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