With all heats battled out until the last minute, the tournament ended with new winners and one champion for the second consecutive year.
The ArcelorMittal Wahine Bodyboarding Pro 2023 has come to an end. During the first event of the World Tour, athletes from all over the world put on a show at Jacaraípe Beach, in Espírito Santo, in the fight for the first title of the season. This Thursday, April 27th, Hawaiian Aarya Tabalno won the PRO JUNIOR WOMEN final; and Japanese Sari Ohara won the WOMEN final. In the last heat of the day, the Brazilian Mariana Nogueira won, becoming two-time champion.
The first victory of the day was for the sixteen year old Aarya Tabalno (HAW) in the PRO JUNIOR WOMEN division. In an extremely competitive and exciting heat until the last wave, the Hawaiian managed to beat current and first ever world champion in this division, Luna Hardman (BRA). One of the revelations of the competition was when Aarya scored 14.75 points against Luna’s 10.75 in her first competition outside her country.
Then, it was the WOMEN division athletes’ turn to enter the water. After winning their semifinals earlier, Namika Yamashita (JPN) and Sari Ohara (JPN) had an all-Japanese final. Surfing very well with impressive maneuvers, Sari won the highest score of the competition with a 9.00 wave, and opened a good lead on the scoreboard. Even with strong movements and fighting for the result, Namika was unable to exceed the mark. Ohara was declared champion. Recall that Ohara had won second place during the previous edition.
Concluding the day, Mariana Nogueira (BRA) and Catarina Sousa (POR) went to the water for the third time in the day—as they had previously surfed in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Immediately from the first wave, Mariana showed why she was the champion in 2022. She defeated her Portuguese opponent, becoming the first Wahine two-time champion.
The ArcelorMittal Wahine Bodyboarding Pro is organized by the Instituto Neymara Carvalho and the IBC World Tour. The event was sponsored by ArcelorMittal (master sponsor), the Government of the State of Espírito Santo through the Capixaba Sports Incentive Law, and the Municipality of Serra, in addition to the support of Grupo Coroa.
Sponsors
@ArcelorMittaltubarao (Master Sponsor)
@governo_es
@prefeituraserra
Support
@grupocoroa
Organizations
@institutoneymaracarvalho
@ibcworld_tour
