Portugal’s Francisca Veselko won the junior surfing world title on Friday in San Diego, United States, defeating North American Sawyer Lindblad in the final.
The 19-year-old Portuguese young woman, who received a ‘wild card’ (invitation) to the championship that defined the youth champion of the World Surfing League (WSL), achieved in the decisive heat, and very controversial, a total of 12.47 points (7.00 and 5.47), surpassing the rival, who scored 12.33 (6.50 and 5.83).
The surfer from Carcavelos, Portuguese champion in 2021, is the first Portuguese female surfer to win the junior world title, the same feat achieved by Vasco Ribeiro in the men’s race in 2014.
“I want to thank you for the invitation and the chance I was given. I had a special feeling from the start of the championship and I thought everything would go well. I was confident. In the final I fell in the first wave, but I came back out and kept fighting. And I got it!”, ‘Kika’ Veselko released in the WSL quick interview right after the final.
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In addition to the world title in the category, the athlete automatically qualified for the 2023 Challenger Series, which will give access to the WSL main circuit in 2024.
“I want to thank my family, my sponsors and my coach, Rodrigo Sousa, who came from Portugal to support me,” underlined Francisca Veselko, who surpassed the record of compatriot Teresa Bonvalot in this match, which played at the 2015 World Cup, Ericeira , had reached the third final position.
Source: DN
