WBSF’s late call paid off and the Trials event of the 2nd Mediterranean Surf Contest held in Parga on Tuesday, November 8, gave a foretaste of what will follow at the finals. Out of the 35 entries from the online registrations, finally 16 athletes managed to attend the races, which is understandable given the location of the spot and the chosen day for the trials.
The area early in the morning was ready to welcome the 16 participants who traveled from all over Greece and beach just beneath the castle seemed at its best.
Athletes’ check in was at 9:30 and the riders meeting followed in order to provide the necessary information to athletes of the rules, the Judging and the spot.
It is worth noting that for the first time in Greece the Contest Committee composed exclusively by Greek judges certificated by ISA, namely Dimitris Aronis, Christos Hatzis, Dinos Kopanitsanos, with Head Judge Manos Katsarakis, Beach Marshall & Announcer Stavros Argyros and the Contest Director of WBSF, Nikos Athanasiou and admittedly executed their job quite well, which opens great expectations for the future of racing surf in Greece and its evolution.
We want to thank them warmly for their support and for their willingness to contribute to the improvement of our races.
Immediately after the riders meeting, the organizing team had a drawing for the Ladder. The first possible start which was announced for 11:00 wand the duration of each heat was set for 30 minutes.
1st HEAT
In the first heat Loukas Katsenis impressed everyone, although he missed last year’s contest. He showed how well he knows his home spot very complete surfing, although he fell into Interference.
Second came Ilias Antonopoulos with a great wave that kept Vassilis Reisi outside the semifinals, while the local Dominikos Mpatsios failed to convince the judges with his performance, despite the waves he ride.
2nd HEAT
Second Heat with Vassili Missa confirming his reputation as a great surfer and along with the local Mario Zere, who chose the tactic of waiting big waves and then the smaller but longer, he passed in the second round against Nikos Mavridis. Evangelos Baras seemd to be off climate, taking very few waves and no one complete.
3rd HEAT
In the third heat Konstantinos Kostopoulos revenged his last block in the first round of the 1st Msc and along with Argiro Pori, the only girl in the trials, surprised pleasantly the judges and took the ticket to the semi finals.
Nikolas Milionis tune in with the spot too slowly and took very few waves that left no space for high score from the judges, while Davor Pavikj showed the future in racing surf that exist in the area of Parga, with Theodore Kokkoris who we will certainly see at the next Trials.
4th HEAT
In the fourth heat we saw the conditions droping and gave extra 5 minutes time, that proved crucial for riders and immediately put the contest in Stand by, since the common belief of all was, if there was time comfort, to have the best possible conditions. That change in the weather seems that made the frequency of the waves bigger and the contest returned to the fourth heat and duration 35 minutes.
Successfully the 4th Heat showed that the conditions were there with John Vidalis perforiming one of the top turns in the contest and did not leave chance for the first position while Nikos Kalatzakis took his lesson from last year and came with a bigger board and was able to manage the second place, leaving behind Manos Mavromatis with few but effective waves, and Theodore Papakonstantinou.
1st Semi
In the first Semi Lukas Katsenis continued with his own uinique style, catching the wave of the day performing three tricks on it and proved that the spot belongs to him, while the two Cretans Kalatzakis and Kostopoulos, left no chance in Zere and ensured their ticked in 2nd Msc.
2nd Semi
The second semifinal brought a series of arguments with controversial interference and non-militant tactics of the riders.
With the exception of Vassili Missa who stood out first, the other three riders managed to tie and necessarily measured their individual scores from each judge. Argyro Pori, played safely giving the judges what they wanted to see and with Ilias Antonopoulos filled the team of 6 who got the ticket to the final of the 2nd MSC.
Final
The final saw the riders more loose and enjoying the waves given by the Ionion Sea. Lukas Katsenis with the unique aerial of the contest sealed his victory. Kostopoulos showed technique and speed in the critical part of the wave that put him in front of the Vassili Missa.
With the impressive heat of the final and the awarding of the golden pass for 2nd Msc, Trials were completed and the preparations for the big final are about to start.
We would like to thank all the athletes who support our efforts for the development of the competitive surf in Greece. The locals, local businesses, the Deputy Mayor Mr. Petro Tzouro and the Municipality of Pargas for their valuable assistance and support. Especially we would like to thank Mr. Alekos Dimopoulos, who despite the difficult weather conditions, he perfectly accomplished his tasks with the Rescue Boat for the safety of athletes.
Photos by Albena Todorova
| RANK | ATHLETE | QUALIFIED |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Λουκάς Κατσένης | ΝΑΙ |
| 2 | Κωνσταντίνος Κωστόπουλος | ΝΑΙ |
| 3 | Βασίλης Μίσσας | ΝΑΙ |
| 4 | Αργυρώ Πορή | ΝΑΙ |
| 5 | Νίκος Καλαντζάκης | ΝΑΙ |
| 6 | Ηλίας Αντωνόπουλος | ΝΑΙ |
| 7 | Γιάννης Βιδάλης | 1ος επιλαχών |
| 8 | Μάριος Ζερέ | 2ος επιλαχών |
| 9 | Μάνος Μαυρομάτης | 3ος επιλαχών |
| 10 | Νικόλας Μηλιώνης | 4ος επιλαχών |
| 11 | Θεόδωρος Παπακωνταντίνου | 5ος επιλαχών |
| 12 | Νίκος Μαυρίδης | 6ος επιλαχών |
| 13 | Βασίλης Ρείσης | 7ος επιλαχών |
| 14 | Davor Pavikj | 8ος επιλαχών |
| 15 | Δομήνικος Μπάτσιος | 9ος επιλαχών |
| 16 | Βαγγέλης Μπάρας | 10ος επιλαχών |
