Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
Abu Dhabi will be etched forever in the memories of Steven Sawyer as the South African bids to revive his surfing career by getting a massive wave of confidence at a crucial juncture.
He won the men’s title at the World Surf League’s (WSL) new and third stop when he joined Alice Lemoigne on the winner’s list as part of the WSL Longboard Championship Tour.
In a historic day of the competition, the WSL crowned its first winners in the inaugural event in the UAE.
The competition was hosted in the perfect three-foot waves of the Surf Abu Dhabi facility at Hudayriat Island, which has been designed by the Kelly Slater Wave Company.
Multiple 9-point rides for Lemoigne led her to victory while Sawyer’s must-win scenario unfolded in time for him to break into the top-eight qualifiers in seventh place for the world title showdown which will happen in a one-day winner-takes-all in El Salvador from October 9 to 13.
Surfing in his only event of this season, Sawyer claimed the second Longboard Tour win of his career.
The 30-year-old’s previous victory came at the 2018 Taiwan Open World Longboard Championships, which earned him the title of WSL Longboard champion for that year.
Having previously been runner-up to the Longboard World Title in 2016, Sawyer’s only other final came at the start of 2019.
Five years later, his win has snuck him inside the door at the right place at the right time.
"This is a surfer’s dream," Sawyer said, "From the wave, to all the amenities, to hospitality. Everything’s bigger, better, greater, harder, faster here. And it’s just amazing. So to be here and experience the wave and learn it and have a couple more under the belt, it just felt more comfortable each time."
“This is as good as a contest can get. I only needed two waves. I stuffed two up and I made two, so that’s what got me through,” he added.
The Reunion Island surfer Lemoigne claim her second Longboard Tour event victory, winning an all-French Final against one of her best friends, Zoe Grospiron.
Runner-up to the Longobard world title in 2021, Lemoigne’s win means she goes to El Salvador as the third seed.
Despite over a decade on Tour that has seen her consistently place in the Top 10, Lemoigne had made just two Longboard Tour finals.
Understandably, the 27-year-old got emotional at the end.
“I had so much fun, and to share a final with Zoe was insane,” Lemoigne said.
“I didn’t feel I was competing, I was just going for a free surf and I enjoyed so much the wave. Before El Salvador, it means so much to win here so I’m pretty happy. It’s going to be an amazing finals day.”
The previous best result for both Lemoigne and Grospiron was the 2021 Jeep Malibu Classic, where Lemoigne won and Grospiron placed in the semi-finals.
The pair were thrilled to share their first final together.
“I’m super stoked,” Grospiron, 24, said as she heads to El Salvador, where her sister has relocated to the venue of the finals.
“To share the final with Alice, to be around this beautiful place, and it was a very good show. I get to see my sister. Coming here, I just had the fire inside me. Making it to the top ten was already a goal, and now qualified. It’s a dream.”
