Surfers bow out on Day 5 of World Games

EL SUNZAL, El Salvador:

With Reggae tunes blaring, the Jamaican spirit shone brightly under the Salvadoran sun, but the nation’s surfing campaign at the ISA World Surfing Games came to a close on Day 5 as all three team members were eliminated in the second repechage round here in El Sunzal.

The trio of Javaun Brown, Elishama Beckford, and Ackeam Phillips fought valiantly but ultimately couldn’t find the waves needed to advance, marking the end of the road for the Caribbean contingent.

The day began with Javaun Brown in heat two, and the Portland native faced a challenging lineup with long lulls between sets. Brown posted scores of 3.00 and 3.80 for a combined total of 6.80 that wasn’t enough to challenge the heat’s front-runners, Khalil Da Silva of Italy (9.50) and Timoci Tuitavuk of Fiji (8.47), who advanced automatically.

For Brown, the strategy was to go out early and set a score to put the other surfers under pressure, but in the end, his efforts came up short.

“There were not too many waves out there. But I’m still proud of my effort. I’ll go home and work on a better strategy with regard to wave selection for next time,” Brown said.

The most heart-wrenching exit came in the very next heat. Teammate Elishama Beckford looked poised for victory, leading heat 3 for a significant portion of the 20-minute contest.

With solid scores of 4.90 and 4.83, his total of 9.73 had him in a qualifying position. However, as the clock ticked down, the waves disappeared for the Jamaican.

He was overtaken in the dying minutes by Spain’s Yago Dominguez, who unleashed an excellent 7.67 ride to add to his 8.50, winning the heat with a dominant 16.17 total. Teo Gale Grani of Panama also slipped past Beckford, securing the second advancing spot with 10.73.

A visibly disappointed Beckford felt his performance was stronger than the scores indicated.

“I felt my surfing was there and I didn’t feel I made any real mistakes. Wave selection could have been a factor, but I also felt my waves were underscored.”

With Brown and Beckford out, the nation’s final hope rested on Bull Bay native Ackeam Phillips in the day’s final repechage heat. Unfortunately, the waves failed to cooperate for Phillips, who struggled to find any rhythm in the lineup.

His two-wave total of 4.93 (3.00 and 1.93) landed him in fourth place. The heat witnessed a rare tie between Great Britain’s Patrick Langdon-Dark and Panama’s Kai Gale Grani, who both posted 9.23 scores to advance.

“The waves didn’t come my way today, and “It’s a tough way to finish, but I’m proud of the effort I put out there for Jamaica,” said Phillips.