Phillips joins teammates in second repechage round at ISA World Games

EL SUNZAL, EL SALVADOR

IN A tense display of calculated surfing, national surfer Akeam Phillips safely advanced through his opening repechage heat here at the ISA World Games yesterday, booking his spot in the next round alongside teammates Javaun Brown and Elishama Beckford.

Facing elimination, Phillips executed a smart, strategic performance which, in the end, proved to be the formula for the Jamaican to move on in the consolation round. The Bull Bay native caught four waves, posting a solid 4.50 on his opening ride and improving to a 5.17 on his third, for a two-wave total of 9.67.

The score was good enough for a crucial second-place finish in the heat, which was won by Eduardo Alciso Jr of the Philippines. For Phillips, seeing his teammates rip through their heat on Monday gave him the motivation to come with his A game.

“I’m having fun out there; the waves are really tempting. But I stuck to the plan, which was just to do what I needed to do to qualify and live to fight another day.”

That fight will continue in the second repechage round, where the nation’s surfers will have one more chance to avoid elimination and keep their championship hopes alive.

Phillips is slated to compete in the final heat of the day, heat 24. He will face a formidable international field, including Kai Gale Grani of Panama, Patrick Langdon Dark of Great Britain, and Matteo Calatari of Italy.

He won’t be alone in the pressure cooker of Repechage two. Teammate Javaun Brown will be one of the first up, competing in heat two against Khalil da Silva of Italy, Santiago Medeiro of Uruguay, and Timoci Tuitavuki of Fiji.

Later, Elishama Beckford will look to advance from heat four, where his competition will be Yago Dominguez of Spain, Teo Gale Grani of Panama, and Teshawn Jones of the British Virgin Islands.