Congrats Alex ! From the IBA Site: “Alex Uranga from the Basque Country in northern Spain is the winner of the 2011 Nissan Reunion Bodyboard Pro at Les Archers in Saint-Pierre, Reunion. Uranga, 22, who won the trials into the main event, took his winning streak all the way to the final, defeating Jake Stone from Dunsborough in Western Australia, with minutes to go, in glassy four to six foot waves.
The Basque was carried on the shoulders of his brother and a friend from the water’s edge to the presentation area while the crowd whistled and cheered for him. He dedicated his win to all the people who believed in him back in the Basque Country. “It’s incredible”, said Alex Uranga, “I can’t put these feelings into words”.
Jake Stone, 22, beat reigning world champion and local, Amaury Lavernhe in the quarterfinal and Frenchman Pierre-Louis Costes in the semifinal. Stone, was coming first until 2 minutes before the final siren when Uranga caught his winning wave, a big back flip scoring him a 7.6 out of a possible ten. “It was a sick final unfortunately I got nipped at the end there. He [Uranga] took it apart, so I’m stoked for him”, said Stone. This is Stone’s best result on the IBA GSS world tour.
The full GSS & GQS Rankings after the Reunion Island event can be downloaded from http://ibaworldtour.com/downloads/”
