Wild and wooly for Day 2 World Longboard Championships Taiwan – results and photos

A short day of competition saw just the final four heats of Men’s Round 2 completed, as increasing swell and blustery winds forced WSL Event Directors to call competition off due to deteriorating conditions.

Peruvian Lucas Garrido Lecca (PER) is in the hunt for his best finish at the Taiwan Open as he booked himself a spot into Round 3 after taking down Aussie hopeful Jack Entwistle (AUS). Both surfers struggled to find a decent wave in the solid and bumpy conditions, but it was Garrido Lecca who managed to pull together a heat total of 9.06 to claim the win. Garrido Lecca will now shift his focus to Round 3 where he will take on reigning World Longboard Champion Steven Sawyer.

“That was so tough out there,” Garrido Lecca said. “I feel bad for Jack because those were not the waves we were hoping for, but there is nothing you can do about the conditions, that’s just surfing. I’m stoked to make it into Round 3 and have the opportunity to get my best result here in Taiwan. It looks like we will continue to get solid conditions so I will try to be ready for anything.”

2006 World Longboard Champion Josh Constable (AUS) found himself in the unexpected position of trying to avoid a last-place finish in Round 2 when he came up against fellow Aussie and 4-time national Australian Champion Clinton Guest (AUS) in Heat 7. Constable made light work of the windy right-handers, riding the nose through the chop and slicing turns back into the pocket to take the win, much to the excitement of his family who watched on from the beach.

Kevin Skvarna and Taka Inoue were the other two competitors to progress through Round 2 with Jack Entwistle (AUS), Clinton Guest (AUS), Wenderson Biludo (BRA), and Kaimana Takayama (HAW) were all unfortunately eliminated.

With conditions continuing to deteriorate at Jinzun Harbour, WSL Event Directors decided to put the event on standby after the final heat of Round 2. With conditions expected to stay below average for the next 24 hours, the event has been called off tomorrow, December 3 and WSL Event Directors will reconvene at Jinzun Harbour on Thursday, December 4 at 6:15 a.m. to make a call on competition recommencing.

 - REPORT BY TIM HAIN / WSL

The Taiwan Open World Longboard Championship runs from December 1 - 7.

NEXT CALL IS FOR THURSDAY – WILL KEEP YOU POSTED 

Remaining Men's Round 2 Results:

HEAT 1: Cole Robbins (USA) 10.10 DEF. Chung Hua Cheng (TWN) 6.14
HEAT 2: Ben Skinner (GBR) 15.00 DEF. Max Weston (AUS) 9.26
HEAT 3: Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA) 10.87 DEF. Nicholas Brewer (AUS) 8.37
HEAT 4: Phil Rajzman (BRA) 10.87 DEF. Gabriel Nascimento (BRA) 8.57
HEAT 5: Taka Inoue (JPN) 9.84 DEF. Kaimana Takayama (USA) 8.17
HEAT 6: Lucas Garrido Lecca (PER) 9.06 DEF. Jack Entwistle (AUS) 7.90
HEAT 7: Josh Constable (AUS) 11.83 DEF. Clinton Guest (AUS) 8.43
HEAT 8: Kevin Skvarna (USA) 9.90 DEF.  Wenderson Biludo (BRA) 6.96

Round 3 Matchups:

HEAT 1: Cole Robbins (USA) vs. Harrison Roach (AUS)
HEAT 2: Taylor Jensen (USA) vs. Taka Inoue (JPN)
HEAT 3: Kaniela Stewart (HAW) vs. Ben Skinner (GBR)
HEAT 4: Steven Sawyer (ZAF) vs. Lucas Garrido Lecca (PER)
HEAT 5: Kai Sallas (HAW)
HEAT 6: Edouard Delpero (FRA) vs. Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA)
HEAT 7: Justin Quintal (USA) vs. Josh Constable (AUS)
HEAT 8: Tony Silvagni (USA) vs. Phil Rajzman (BRA)