RAPHAEL Trinidad made a grand debut in the world stage, giving the Philippines its first ever medal finish in the IWWF World Wakeboard Championships held in Buenos Aires, Argentina recently.
The 17-year old native of Cebu bagged the silver medal in the senior category, topped by three-time world champion Loir Sofer of Israel.
Sofer posted a final score of 78.0, just 2.67 points ahead of Trinidad.
The Filipino, meanwhile, could only finish at fifth place in the Junior Men U-19 category of the meet that featured 180 entries from 28 countries.
Prior to his IWWF stint, Trinidad, riding under the banner of Team Republ1c, was coming off a stellar stint in the Philippine Cable Wake Nationals held last month at the Deca Wake Cable Park in Clark, Pampanga, where he pulled off the first ever double half cab roll in Philippine wakeboarding.
Trinidad has been a dominant force in the national championships since he was 13 years old, competing in the Pro Men Wakeboard division.
The feat establishes him as a favorite to win a gold medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games later this year where wakeboarding is set to make its debut.
Trinidad is likewise eyeing to make it all the way to the Olympics, should wakeboarding finally makes it to the 2024 Paris Games.
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