Iballa Ruano hangs the world bronze - La Provincia

Another metal with the signature Ruabo. Iballa Ruano Moreno won the bronze medal at the Stand Up Paddle World Championship (SUP), held on the beach of El Sunzal, in El Salvador. The French Justine Dupont got the world scepter after beating the Australian Shakira Westdrop, who finished in second position.

The performance of the rider Pozo Izquierdo was key for the Spanish team to finish second in teams, only surpassed by France. On the last day of the championship, held last Sunday, the United States and Spain arrived very even in the global ranking, so Iballa Ruano not only had to add a medal, but also had to eliminate the US representative.

The Peruvian Vania Torres, the Australian Shakira Westdrop, the French Justine Dupont and Iballa Ruano were the four protagonists of a tight final that was decided in the last moments. The Grancanaria completed a card of 11.50 points, which allowed her to finish in third position, thanks to two waves that were valued by the judges with 6.17 and 5.33 points.

The gold medal went to Dupont, who scored 13.83 points and managed to surprise Westdrop by a minimum difference of 0.33 points. In this way, the French managed to cut the bright streak of the Australian representative, winner of the title in the last three editions. For its part, the Peruvian athlete occupied the fourth place with 10.90 points.

With the two dangles hanging around the neck, that of individual bronze and silver for teams, Iballa Ruano highlighted the excellent and equal level of the women's team and showed his satisfaction for having been able to contribute the magnificent result achieved by the Spanish team in El Salvador.

"When I started practicing stand up paddle, I never imagined that I would end up representing Spain in an event of this nature and much less, that I would win three medals, two bronze and one silver," said SUP world champion waves of the Professional circuit in 2018.

The next challenge that Iballa Ruano will face will be the Gran Canaria PRO AM, which will be held from December 10 to 29 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Although it has no options to revalidate the title achieved last year in this same scenario, Pozo Izquierdo wants to improve the second position of 2018 in this test.