Kymani Laurent, photo by Fish Bowl Diaries
DAY 1
March 26, 2025
Chile World Cup
World Wave Tour
Matanzas, Chile
The 2025 Chile World Cup kicked off today, launching the World Wave Tour’s 5 Star season with Round 1 of the Men’s division with world-class performances at the iconic break of Matanzas.
Local young hero Iñaki Maturana 🇨🇱 lit up the beach with a commanding win in his opening heat, continuing the momentum from his recent Chile Tour victory. The young Chilean is quickly becoming a national sensation, proving once again that he’s a serious threat on the global stage. With precise wave selection and bold, slashing big hacks, Iñaki’s performance earned cheers from the hometown crowd.
Another standout of the day was young Kymani Laurent, the stylish pro junior from Guadeloupe 🇬🇵🇫🇷, who impressed the judges and fans alike with smooth, flowing lines and a massive tweaked aerial that had the beach buzzing. His heat win with the highest heat total of the day puts him firmly in the spotlight as one of the breakout talents of the event.
The day also saw top seeds like Spanish 🇪🇸 champion Alessio Stillrich storm back from a long term injury to make his mark and announce his return. Denmark’s 🇩🇰 young Tobias Bjørnaa delivered big air to win his heat and also advance to R3. Veteran, local Masters champion and community leader Felipe Wedeles 🇨🇱 won his heat to advance and had great praise for young Australian ripper Jake Ghiretti 🇦🇺 with whom he shared the heat and who came second with both advancing to R3. Germany’s Moritz Mauch 🇩🇪 was in fine form making it look easy in the unforgiving conditions. The upcoming redemption rounds will give hungry challengers in 3rd and 4th today another shot at climbing the mountain.
With strong conditions forecast for the upcoming weekend and fierce match-ups emerging as the best advance, the next rounds promise more fireworks as the world’s best wave riders continue their quest for the 2025 Chile World Cup title and the first big step toward the 2025 World Wave Titles.
This event looks set to celebrate the next generation riding to shake up the old guard and there couldn’t be a more exciting way to start the big event.
Stay tuned to the World Wave Tour for full heat results, highlights, and live coverage.
Photos by Fish Bowl Diaries