The Algarve surfer Yolanda Hopkins reached this Friday the 9th final place in the US Open Of Surfing, in Huntington Beach. Yolanda was the best Portuguese representative in the Californian race, which served as the inaugural stage of the new Challenger Series circuit of the World Surf League, which serves as qualification for next year's World Tour.
With Yolanda and Vasco Ribeiro managing to overcome the first rounds of this mythical race, this Friday was a decisive journey to determine who made it to the final rounds.
The first to enter the water was Yolanda Hopkins, who managed to reach the woman-on-woman stage, fighting for access to the quarter-finals against Caitlin Simmers. However, the Algarve ended up losing against the North American.
Despite the defeat, with this result Yolanda has already secured 3500 points for the ranking and a $2750 prize pool. A good sign for the next stages, which will be played in Europe.
In the women's competition, the National Association of Surfers (ANS) also highlights the performance of Teresa Bonvalot, who was eliminated in round 2, and Carolina Mendes, who lost in the opening round.
On the male side, with regard to national surfers, Vasco Ribeiro competed in round 3, looking for a presence in the round of XNUMX of the male competition.
However, stresses ANS, «the sea didn't cooperate again and Vasco was eventually overcome by the Tahitian Mihimana Braye and the North American Jake Marshall, in a heat in which he added only 5,47 points. An outcome that made the Estoril surfer finish in 17th place.
Now, Portuguese surfers return to our country, where from October 2nd the second stage of this circuit begins, in Ericeira.
From Portugal, the circuit goes to France, still in October, and between the end of November and the beginning of December, everything will be decided in the final stage, scheduled for Haleiwa, in Hawaii. At stake are 12 spots for the men's world circuit and six for the women's.
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