The Canary surfer Iballa Ruano in action in Portuguese waters.

Iballa Ruano Moreno has managed to revalidate in Portugal the title of Europe's Stand Up Paddle Surf champion last year in France by awarding the gold medal in the wave mode at the EuroSUP Peniche 2017, the European championship for nations in which the Gran Canaria rider is part of the Spanish selection.

This new continental championship has double value, as the points provided by Iballa to the general ranking have allowed Spain to get the silver medal for teams, only over the French combined.

Iballa Ruano won its fourth European title on the beach of Peniche, as before winning the gold medal in 2016 as part of the Spanish team, he had won two first positions individually, in 2013 and 2015, in the European Championship of the European private organization SUP Association (EUROSUPA).

The Pozo Izquierdo rider, sponsored by Grupo Anfi, Volkswagen Comerciales Canarias and Stardboard, achieved in the female final a score of 15.85 points, which allowed him to overcome the French Justine Dupont, second with 10.1 points, the Swedish Sofie Simonson, which achieved 5.5 points in the decisive manga and the German Paulina Herpel, which ended in fourth position with 4.25 points.

The spectacular performance of Iballa Ruano in Peniche was based on an overwhelming start with two first waves that were valued by the judges with 8.25 and 7.60 points respectively, which allowed him to face the rest of the final with relative tranquility, mark his rivals in the water and select without pressure the rest of the waves that completed his card.

"To reveal this title and to hang the gold medal again is an incredible feeling, as I have trained very hard all year long to recover the same feelings that made me fall in love with this sport, and today during the end, I have come back to enjoy to the maximum by competing," said the Grancan sportsman just after getting out of the water.

Iballa Ruano highlighted the level of his main rival at the EuroSUP final and recognized that his presence in this championship has been an extra motivation, "Justine Dupont usually competes in the professional surf circuit, so it has an excellent style, selects the waves very well during the sleeves and has a huge talent." "I wish Justine would continue to participate in the SUP circuit, as it increases the level of the female picture," concluded Iballa.

The rider of Santa Lucia of Tirajana stressed that the key to achieving victory was "that first wave of 8.25 points, which has given me peace of mind, allowing me to play with the preferences and be able to win this title that I would like to dedicate to my father so that he will recover soon."

The Iballa domain throughout the championship was reflected in the global score computation of this EuroSUP 2017, as the French runners Ben Carpentier, Pierre Rollet and she were the only participants recognized by the judges with more than 8 points for their maneuvers in a single wave; while in the final ranking, which counted both the male and the female picture, the Canary surfer ended second with 15.85, only surpassed by Ben Carpentier, who added 16.00 points to win the gold medal.

This new success with the Spanish team joins the 2015 World Bronze Medal at the ISA World Stand Up Paddle Championship held in Mexico. In addition, Iballa Ruano is the current Windurfing world champion of the PWA in the wave mode, a title that is about to start defending against her twin sister, Daida Ruano, at the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival to be held in Pozo Izquierdo from 8 to 16 July.