Justin Quintal and Chloe Calmon, winners of the ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro Longboard

  • The American longboarder got the victory in the men’s category, after beating the Hawaiian Kai Sallas in the last round. 
  • The Brazilian rider beat the Hawaiian Honolua Blomfield in the women’s final, in a match where a great show was seen. 

Justin Quintal (United States), in the men’s category, and Chloe Calmon (Brazil), in the women’s category, were proclaimed winners in the Longboard mode, within the ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro, which is being played on the beach of Pantín (Valdoviño, Ferrolterra, province of A Coruña). 

Quintal beat Hawaiian Kai Sallas in the final, while Calmon did the same against also Hawaiian Honolua Blomfield. 

With this result, both Quintal and Calmon maintain the leadership of the classification within the World Longboard Championship Tour male and female, respectively. For its part, Sallas rises from the ninth to the second position in the men’s group, while Blomfield is still second in the female. 

In the test for the title in the men’s category, the American did not give too many options to his opponent, and dominated from beginning to end, as shown by the score of 13.27-7.07 points. 

The French Edouard Delpero, current European champion of the modality, was also the protagonist since he won the honorary title of ‘Best Wave of the Competition’, achieved in the quarter-finals with a score of 8.50, as well as the ‘Best Score Accumulated in a Test’, with 16.17 points.

In the women’s final, Calmon and Blomfield offered a good show. Both riders were alternating positions during the  test. The Brazilian surfed a wave of 6.23 points, to overcome her rival in the absence of four minutes to finish and leave the final score of 10.90 – 10.03 points.

The ‘Best Wave of the Day’ and the championship was also for Calmon, with 9.17 (achieved in the semifinals); while the ‘Best Accumulated Score of the Championship’ went to French Justin Dupont, with 14.33 points.

Classic Surf Pro
Classic Surf Pro

The semifinals, exciting

In the men’s semifinals, Justin Quintal won in his duel against Delpero at the last moment. In the absence of six minutes to finish the test, he lost by 9.33 to 13.07, but he got a wave of 6.67 points, which allowed him in the accumulated to get ahead to 13.40 points. The Frenchman did not have time to flip the scoreboard. 

At the other crossing, Hawaiian Kai Sallas asserted his greatest experience to beat the Japanese Taka Inoue, who had some physical discomfort before getting into the water. Sallas knew how to wait for the best waves to take the test for 11.43 to 9.80 points.

In the female semifinals, Chloe Calmon showed herself superior to Dupont during the whole test, marking the distances from the first wave, in which she achieved a spectacular 9.17. The French tried to overcome, but her efforts were not enough and ended up yielding by 14.17-7.90 points. 

Blomfield had it harder in her match with Tilly as it was very even, as reflected by the scoreboard of 13.03-12-83 points. The Hawaiian had to be used thoroughly to overcome the initial disadvantage.

Trophy Delivery 

During the awarding to the champions and runners-up of each category (male and female), the general directors of Tourism and Commerce of the Xunta de Galicia, Nava Castro and Sol Vázquez (as president of Galicia Calidade) were present; the Councilor of Sports of the Consello de Valdoviño, Sergio Saavedra; as well as the representative of Gadis Supermarkets, Iria Rodríguez.

For his part, Cabreiroá offered the awards for the ‘Best Waves of the Competition’ both to Chloe Calmon (in women), and Edouard Delpero (in men). The person in charge of delivering the awards was the trade marketing of Cabreiroá, Pedro Pastur.

Calmon: “A great year for the Longboard”. 

Brazilian Chloe Calmon, who was declared the winner of the ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro, in the Women’s Longboard mode, commented that it is “a great year for Longboard competitors” because it has designed “a calendar with four important events: Noosa ( Australia), New York (United States), Pantín (Galicia, Spain) and Taiwan”.

“Each location has different waves and conditions and that makes the circuit more attractive. We must thank the World Surf League (WSL) and Dewon Howard, as commissioner of the Longboard Tour for the effort they are making, ”they say. 

Regarding her participation in Pantín, Calmon remarked that it is her first time in Galicia but “she is delighted with the treatment of people and the landscape of the site that is spectacular”.

For his part, Justin Quintal, winner in the men’s section, commented just at the end of the competition for the title “I was in shock”, but that it had been “a very nice final.”

Classic Surf Pro
Classic Surf Pro

ABANCA Galicia Classic Surf Pro counts with the collaboration of Xunta de Galicia (Turismo de Galicia, Xacobeo 2021, Deporte Galego, Galicia Calidade, Secretaria Xeral de Igualdade, Conselleria de Medioambiente), Diputacion de A Coruña, Ayuntamiento de Ferrol, Ayuntamiento de Valdoviño, Sociedad Mixta de Turismo de Ferrol, Costa das Ondas y Federación Galega de Surf; así como las firmas ABANCA, ESTRELLA GALICIA, CABREIROA, HOSPITAL QUIRON, INTERMAX, VOLKSWAGEN YAÑEZ, TAGHEUER, JOYERIA JAEL, SIROKO,GADIS, GAM, ITG Y VAZVA.

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