CURRENT EVENTS: Bodyboarding News

CURRENT EVENTS: Bodyboarding News

IBA WORLD TOUR:

  The IBA world tour has reached the halfway point for the 2012 season.  There has been some heated competition, thus far, and things look very likely to intensify as the season draws to a close. On the Grand Slam series, Dave Winchester (Australia) has been dominant to this point with two wins and two 3rd place finishes.  Barring a full collapse in the remaining events, Winny seems primed to finally collect on that ever-elusive first world championship.  Here are the most recent rankings for the top 24 on the GSS following the Itacoatiara Pro in Brazil:

1. Dave Winchester - Australia - 6920pts.
2. Mitch Rawlins - Australia - 5400pts.
3. Ben Player - Australia - 5120pts.
4. Jeff Hubbard - Hawaii - 4820pts.
5. Mike Stewart - Hawaii - 4620pts.
6. Pierre Louis Costes - France - 4590pts.
7. Mark McCarthy - South Africa - 4520pts.
8. Guilherme Tamega - Brazil - 4440pts.
9. Andrew Lester - Australia - 4020pts.
10. Ryan Hardy - Australia - 3720pts.
11. Amaury Lavernhe - Reunion Island - 3700pts.
12. Jake Stone - Australia - 3600pts.
13. Sam Bennett - Australia - 3580pts.
14. Jared Houston - South Africa - 3520pts.
15. Magno Passos - Brazil - 3420pts.
16. Alex Uranga - Basque - 3400pts.

17. Michael Novy - Australia - 3320pts.
18. Chase O'Leary - Australia - 3120pts.
19. Uri Valadao - Brazil - 3020pts.
20. Tom Rigby - Australia - 2920pts.
21. Dave Hubbard - Hawaii - 2790pts.
22. Eder Luciano - Brazil - 2660pts.
23. Dallas Singer - Australia - 2620pts.
24. Damian King - Australia - 2320pts.

Winny and BP left the 2012 Itacoatiara Pro Brazil in pretty good shape in the GSS rankings...Winny is ranked #1 in the world and BP is currently ranked 3rd.

  Keep in mind that there is more at stake than just the men's world title.  Competitors will continue to battle through the very last event on the 2012 schedule to gain one of the highly treasured top 16 slots, as the riders ranked 17-24 will get dropped and the top 8 from the GQS (Global Qualifier Series) will move up to round out the top 24 for the 2013 GSS season.  These are, currently, the top 8 GQS riders:

1. Damian King - Australia - 5740pts.
2. Jones Russell - Australia - 4220pts.
3. Sacha Specker - South Africa - 4160pts.
3. Nick Ormerod - Australia - 4160pts.
5. Joe Clarke - Australia - 4140pts.
6. Liam O'Toole - Australia - 3452pts.
7. Brahim Iddouch - Morocco - 3432pts.
8. Charlie Chapelet - Reunion Island - 3360pts.

South African Sacha Specker has been a busy man in 2012.  Besides working as staff photographer for the IBA, he is currently ranked #3 on the GQS and #2 on the DKWT.

  Meanwhile, on the WWT (Women's World Tour), 2010 World Champion Isabella Sousa (Brazil) looks to be back in championship form in her bid to reclaim the women's title.  Here are the rankings for the WWT top 10:

1. Isabella Sousa - Brazil - 4610pts.
2. Karla Costa Taylor - Brazil - 3060pts.
3. Lilly Pollard - Australia - 2950pts.
4. Lumar Guittard - Venezuela - 2630pts.
5. Eunate aguirre - Basque - 2360pts.
6. Neymara Carvlaho - Brazil - 2340pts.
7. Anne Cecile Lacoste - France - 2310pts.
8. Minami Hatekayama - Japan - 2260pts.
9. Maylla Venturin - Brazil - 2120pts.
10. Natasha Sargardia - 2080pts.

2010 Women's World Champion Isabella Sousa is currently ranked #1 on the WWT.  Here, Isabella took time to come out and support the MWT event at Itacoatiara and do a few interviews for the Brazilian TV networks.

  On the DKWT (Drop Knee World Tour), 2010 World Champion Cesar Bauer (Peru) is perched atop the rankings, but South African Sacha Specker and fellow Peruvian Pancho Galdos are still within striking distance and have eyes on the DKWT title.  It will be very interesting to see how this title race shakes out as the remainder of the season progresses.  Here's the DKWT top 10:

1. Cesar Bauer - Peru - 4420pts.
2. Sacha Specker - South Africa - 4000pts.
3. Pancho Galdos - Peru - 3892pts.
4. Ardiel Jimenez - Canary Islands - 3727pts.
5. Kiko Galdos - Peru - 2507pts.
6. Grant Maloney - Australia - 2480pts.
7. Damian King - Australia - 2360pts.
8. Ryan Hardy - Australia - 2220pts.
9. Mason Rose - Australia - 2100pts.
10. Ricardo Sotelo - Peru - 2022pts.


  In other IBA news, The IBA Tand Invitational specialty event presented by Turbo Bodyboards got under way this past weekend in South Africa with the completion of the David Lilienfeld Trials on Sunday, June 24th.  The event is presently on hold with the current swell having "too much west in it."  Fortunately, the forecast is looking pretty good for early next week, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, here's the link to check out for more information on the trials, the heat draw for the main event, and more:

http://ibaworldtour.com/2012/06/david-lilienfeld-tand-invitational-trials/

  In addition to the article for the Tand Trials, here is a teaser clip of what we might see next week:

  An added bonus for this year's Tand invitational, Wayne "Shaggy" Gardner has put up a special bonus prize...The Shaggy's Choice Award...$1500 Rand for the rider with the best wave OR the biggest wipeout of the event!

Stay tuned to www.ibaworldtour.com and www.youtube.com/ibaworldtour as well as the IBA on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for all of the latest news, updates, and highlight clips along with rider blogs, event schedules, rider profiles, and more.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Stay tuned for next week's CURRENT EVENTS on BODYBOARDING 101...all of the latest on the Tand Invitational as well as information for the Rebel Sports Australian Pro Tour's Box Beach Pro in Port Stephens (July 6th-8th), the USBA (United States Bodyboarding Association) Sandy Beach Pro in Hawaii (July 7th-8th), plus a look ahead at The FEBBRJ (Federation of Bodyboarding in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Matte Leao tour event at Posto 9 in Ipanema (July 21st-22nd) and more!  See you all next time...YEEEWWW!!!