The South African team is the new ISA Masters World Champion nation at the Porta del Sol ISA World Masters Surfing Championships, which finished yesterday in excellent barrelling 10 to 15 feet faces, breaking at the beautiful Marías Beach in Rincón, Puerto Rico.
Juan Ashton from Puerto Rico, along with Magoo de la Rosa from Peru and Chris Knutsen from South Africa obtained gold medals in the Masters, Grand Masters and Kahunas (over 45) divisions respectively.
As predicted, the powerful northwest swell arrived at Rincon’s coast, ensuring that the last stages of the event were carried out in big conditions, with the athletes choosing larger boards in order to get the best out of the waves.
Going into the final two rounds, Puerto Rico was leading the nation’s ranking with its full team in the competition. However, the host nation lost four athletes on the way to the final. But it still hung on, battling head-to-head with the South Africans until the last heat of the day.
The last heat of the day, the Kahunas final, was the key heat for the definition of the team’s positions. The Puerto Ricans would get the first place on the nation’s competition unless one of the two South African surfers, who were leading the division, won the heat.
South Africa's Chris Knutsen and Rudi Plamboom confronted Javier Huarcaya from Peru and Gilles Asenjo from France. Knutsen found the best waves and made large, stylish carves to win the gold, giving South Africa the victory on the team’s competition.
Once the event was over, a thrilled Knutsen said: “It was a long way to the final, in the last few days the waves went really down and we were all worried about that. But today the Great Lord of the Ocean made a good job for us and we could see an excellent surfing level. I’m really happy that I won the last heat, for me and my country.”
Regarding the fundamental victory he obtained for the position of his country, Knutsen said: “I didn´t know that, I´m just very happy to come back home as a winning country. My team was very supportive the whole time we were here, we trained hard for this event, especially me, because I´m the old one it paid off for me. I just thank my family for supporting me through my training and allowing me to spend the money to come here, the work is done for me.”
