Santiago Muñiz advanced in Ballito
Vicente Romero and Alan Cleland were eliminated on the first day of competition in the third challenger of the year
All photos by WSL/Pierre Tostee
True to his dynamic style in small waves, Argentine Santiago Muñiz advanced his round 1 heat of the third challenger series of the year, the Ballito Pro that began in small waves in South Africa.
Muñiz quickly scored a 5,07 on a single right maneuver that he backed up in a few minutes with a combo of backside maneuvers, which yielded a 5,1 to lead the entire series until he was surpassed by the Brazilian Joao Chianca at the end.
Local Jordy Maree came third and Japanese Shun Murakami came fourth.
The Argentine will now face local Luke Thompson, American Kei Kobayashi and Brazilian Mateus Herdy.
For his part, the Spaniard Vicente Romero, a specialist in small waves, did not find his rhythm in his series and placed third, behind the Hawaiian Imaikalani Devault and the Frenchman Tristan Gilbaud.
In the final heat of the day, number 16, Alan Cleland of Mexico also failed to find his rhythm in the difficult conditions, clocking 5,67 to finish fourth, behind Eithan Osborne, Maxime Huscenot and Eduardo Motta.
The event continues on Tuesday when Lucca Mesinas, Adur Amatriain and Marco Giorgi are expected to take to the water.
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