Men’s Round 4
The conditions gradually started improving during Men’s Round 4. During each two-man heat, the athletes fought hard as only one person would advance to the next round. The judging criteria remained the same as previous days, 22 minute heats with each rider allowed ten waves, and the top two scores counting. Wave selection was everything, and riders had to choose wisely if they wanted to really make the most out of the difficult conditions. The riders who advanced into Round 5 and remained in the competition were local rider Ali Beqqali, Hendrick Lopes, Gray Foster, Yaris Dellomo, Camille Delannoy, Airton Cozzolino, and Mounim Maji.
The highest score of Round 4, and from the entire event so far, went to none other than Airton Cozzolino, who was on a mission and hungry to advance, with a total score of 18.13, the highest score of the event so far.
“My focus now is really to win this event,” explained Airton. “To get the World Championship title now will be complicated, as James only has to win one heat. But I’m motivated to do my best here, and winning the event would be perfect.”