The opening rounds are completed and the updated ladders are below. Check out who advanced to the next round. Also check out the gallery from Day 1 of action RIGHT HERE, and below a recap of the day's action.
Enjoy the highlights from day 1:
Sunset Beach, Oahu: 13th February 2019: After a dramatic storm that hit the islands over the past weekend bringing giant swell and storm strength winds to the North Shore of Oahu, today, conditions proved challengeable, but manageable, with enough scoring potential to be able to get underway with the opening rounds of competition.
A solid NE windswell provided sufficient canvas for the athletes in the Opening Rounds to show their worth, step up and be counted, with the cream rising to the top with some stand out performances across both Men's and Women's fields.
You can check out the highlights, updated heat draws and much more from a full day of competition by CLICKING HERE and @appworldtour
Make sure to stay tuned for the next call tomorrow morning (14th February at 7am HST) and watch all the action go down LIVE at www.appworldtour.com and across social media @appworldtour
With strong, squally winds and a mixed up playing field out at Sunset Beach, the girls faced the action with bravado and skill, putting on impressive performances across the board.
Izzi Gomez maintained her momentum from the Final event of the year in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria last year, kicking things off with a strong performance out at Sunset Beach.
Meanwhile, Shakira Westdorp was another standout, navigating the tricky Sunset conditions on her backhand and leapfrogging a round as a result.
Check out the highlights and updated heat draw by CLICKING HERE or @appworldtour
You can follow your favorite athletes as competition will continue here for the 2019 World Tour Opener, the Sunset Beach Pro presented by Local Motion as early as tomorrow morning at 8am should conditions cooperate. Stay tuned for the next call at 7am local time and for all the LIVE action at www.appworldtour.com and @appworldtour
A new face showed up at Sunset Beach this year and made his presence felt, with an inspired performance today that turned heads and earned him the highest scores of the day. While Maximilian Torres from Puerto Rico did make it to New York last year and certainy showed himself worthy, his performance today made a statement, and his progress will doubtless be monitored closely, as he is without doubt a name to watch out for.
Other young stand outs from today's competition included So Nomora from Japan, who made the most of every bit of opportunity in his two heats to advance onto Round 3, and Zane Saenz, a long time Na Kama Kai Challenge competitor who is coming of age in front of our eyes here at the 2019 Sunset Beach Pro, presented by Local Motion.
Check out the highlights from today's action and stay tuned for updates and all the action LIVE at www.appworldtour.com and follow @appworldtour
On the bottom half of the draw, an intensely competitive heat saw 2013 World Champion Nicole Pacelli dig deep to take victory and leap frog the repechage heat and start her 2019 season on a high.
However, right on her heels and battling back and forth for 2nd place was Vania Torres from Peru, who ended up in 2nd, and Fiona Wylde from Oregon, USA who ended up in 3rd, despite an incredibly close battle with Vania.
In the final heat, it was Annie Reickert from Maui who was able to overcome the newly crowned World Champion Iballa Moreno to skip the repechage and onto the 3rd round. However, Iballa will be back on the next day of competition to battle her way back into the running thru the repechage, as will the on form Aline Adisaka who was unable to overcome the mighty Shakira Westdorp in Round 1.
So still plenty more action to come here from at the Sunset Beach Pro, presented by Local Motion, as the Women continue to impress and the performance level continues to sky rocket on the APP World Tour, even when conditions are as challenging as they were today!
Check out the highlights and stay tuned for the next call tomorrow morning at 7am local time at www.appworldtour.com and @appworldtour.
As always, the local contingent was well represented this year at the Sunset Beach Pro, presented by Local Motion, with some stand out performances in the Opening Rounds. In particular, long time performer, Kainoa Hauanio from the Big Island was back in action and making his presence felt in the tricky line up, maximizing every opportunity to show the world what he is capable of.
He is without doubt one of the major potential spoilers coming into Round 3 to meet the Top 24 seeds on the APP World Tour. Meanwhile, the youngster Zane Saenz from right here on the North Shore is certainly a name to watch out for as competition progresses and as we look to the future on the APP World Tour.
As we kick off with Round 3 of the Men, the remainder of the Hawaii contingent will be truly out in force, from Mo Freitas, Robin Johnston and Zane Schweitzer, to Bernd Roediger and of course Kai Lenny, multiple times Sunset Beach Pro and World Champion.
Check out the highlights, pictures, updated draws and much more from today's competition and stay tuned for the morning call at 7am HST as well as all the action LIVE at www.appworldtour.com and @appworldtour
