After six pressured days of competition at the 2014 Claro ISA World Surfing Games, Michael February and Tanika Hoffman are the only South Africans left in the event and challenging for gold.
Michael February glided to a spot in Repercharge Round 8.
Team SA lost a further two members on Day 6 at Punta Rocas in Peru, with David Brand and Casey Grant bowing out in Repercharge Round 6. After an excellent showing on Day 5, Casey couldn’t repeat the feat and finished third in his heat – a fraction behind Sebastian Alarcon (PER) and a few points shy of Hayden Blair (AUS) in first.
Davey Brand was eliminated in the very next heat, when he finished fourth behind Diego Cadena (MEX), Gabriel Villaran (PER) and Carlos Goncalvez (ECU) in a low-scoring but closely fought battle.
Casey Grant burnt red hot on Day 5, but was unfortunately eliminated on Day 6.
Mikey February won the opening heat of Repercharge Round 6 over local hotshot, Cristobal de Col (PER), Guillermo Satt (CHI) and JC Susan from South Africa New Zealand. The Kommetjie local then finished ahead of Gabriel Villaran (PER) in Repercharge Round 7 to advance to Round 8 – just three more rounds to get through to make the final.
Meanwhile, Tanika Hoffman squeezed into second place in her heat during Women’s Repercharge Round 3 to book a spot in Round 4 – also just three more rounds to advance through to make the final.
Tanika Hoffman has been carving a path towards the final.
Team SA have now dropped to fourth spot on the projected team standings behind hosts Peru in first, Australia in second, and Argentina in third.
Check out isawsg.com for all the results, highlights and photos from the 2014 Claro ISA World Surfing Games. The LIVE webcast starts at 3:00pm (SA time), when you can tune in and support M-Feb and Tanika as they gun for gold.