Ecuadorian Jonathan “Gato Chila” Zambrano secured a place in the Latin American top 2 today and gave Ecuador another place in Lima 2019 through the classification given by the Latin American Association of Professional Surfers (ALAS) tour.

On the other hand, the Ecuadorian is one step away from winning the Latin American title since he only has one contender left with mathematical possibilities of surpassing him with the score he already achieved, despite the fact that he lost in round 3 of the tournament and finished 13th and that there is still a two-star stage that will take place in El Salvador between November 9 and 11.

Chila has a total of 9080 points in his four best stages and only the young Peruvian Gabriel Vargas has a mathematical chance of catching him if he reaches the final in Peru and wins in El Salvador. If Vargas falls before then, Chila will celebrate his second Latin American surfing championship title.

The other surfer who still had a chance of surpassing Chila was the Argentinean Martin Passeri, 2006 Latin champion, who was in a better position than Vargas; if he reached the final in Peñascal and El Salvador, regardless of whether he won, he could surpass him.

Other surfers with a Latin ranking who are still in the tournament are Manuel Selman and Guillermo Satt, who would not get there even if they won the two remaining events (Guillermo Satt would be close if he won both, earning 9000 points).

Regarding the qualification for Lima 2019, Chila is in the same situation as Mimi Barona, she guaranteed a spot but this could be lost if another Ecuadorian is among the six best eligible in the Pan American surfing games that take place in Punta Rocas from December 1 to 9. This is because the hierarchy to qualify for Lima 2019 follows the following order: ISA-PASA-ALAS.