Cover photo: Ochoa by WSL/Poullenot

Basque surfer Ariane Ochoa won her quarter-final heat today in Ericeira and by securing a place in the semi-finals she achieved the best result of her career, adding 6500 points that catapulted her to fifth place in the challenger rankings.

With two stages remaining, if she keeps up her good pace, Ochoa could become the first Spanish female surfer to qualify for the top division of world surfing; only six surfers a year manage to qualify.

When the semi-finals arrived, Ochoa narrowly missed out, 16,26 to 15,60, against the eventual champion of the event, Hawaiian Luana Silva.

Precisely, in the quarterfinals, thanks to that impeccable backside attack on the pointbreak of Ribeira D'Ilhas, Ochoa defeated Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy who, with 5000 points, advanced three positions in the world ranking and is now in second place, with very good chances of reclassifying.

The Hawaiians were the main protagonists of the event, with Ezekiel Lau winning the men's event and Silva the women's event. The women's final was 100% Hawaiian, with Gabriel Bryan finishing second.

In terms of the classification rankings, Alonso Correa and Lucca Mesinas narrowly missed the cut-off line, which reaches 12th place. The second is 15th and the first is 17th.

For his part, Carlos Muñoz, who finished fifth in the tournament, catapulted himself 67 places in the ranking and is now in 29th place with two more events ahead of him: Hossegor and Haleiwa.

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1 - Luana Silva (HAW) 18.03
2 - Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 17.13

men's final
1 - Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 16.57
2 - Jackson Baker (AUS) 13.27

Women's semis
SF 1: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 16.50 defeated Pauline Ado (FRA) 16.00
SF 2: Luana Silva (HAW) 16.26 beat Ariane Ochoa (EUK) 15.60

Men's semis
SF 1: Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 17.40 defeated Nat Young (USA) 15.67
SF 2: Jackson Baker (AUS) 16.93 beat Imaikalani Devault (HAW) 12.24

Women's quarterfinals
CF 1: Pauline Ado (FRA) 15.57 defeated Silvana Lima (BRA) 10.07
CF 2: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 16.16 defeated Shino Matsuda (JPN) 10.93
CF 3: Ariane Ochoa (EUK) 15.60 def Brisa Hennessy (CRI) 13.10
CF 4: Luana Silva (HAW) 16.00 defeated Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) 14.57

Men's Quarterfinals
CF 1: Ezekiel Lau (HAW) 15.93 beat Jordan Lawler (AUS) 8.00
CF 2: Nat Young (USA) 18.23 beat Carlos Munoz (CRI) 17.56
CF 3: Jackson Baker (AUS) 15.50 beat Dylan Moffat (AUS) 13.50
CF 4: Imaikalani Devault (HAW) 13.50 beat Alejo Muniz (BRA) 10.67

Those partially classified for CT at this time are:
Men
1 - Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
2 - Jake Marshall (USA)
3 - Imaikalani Devault (HAW)
4 - Nat Young (USA)
5 - Griffin Colapinto (USA)
6 - Liam O'Brien (AUS)
7 - Jackson Baker (AUS)
8 - Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
9 - Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
10 - Callum Robson (AUS)
11 - Shun Murakami (JPN)
12 - Cole Houshmand (USA)

Ladies
1 - Gabriela Bryan (HAW)
2 - Hennessy Breeze (CRI)
3 - Luana Silva (HAW)
4 - Pauline Ado (FRA)
5 - Caitlin Simmers (USA)
6 - Ariane Ochoa (EUK)