Day 1:

Freestyle kiteboarders and racers warm up on first day KTA 2014 season opener on Indonesian’s Bintan island Trikora Beach Km52, Bintan – The Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) kicked off its 2014 with a colourful cultural opening ceremony on Bintan with traditional Indonesian music and dancing.It is the second successive year that the contest set to take place over five days has been hosted by Bintan, and Trikora Beach Km52 appears set for another exhilarating competition of formula kiteboard and twin-tip racing, and freestyle. Some of the top athletes from around the world and across Asia have gathered to do battle in what will likely be challenging conditions if the first day’s winds of more than 20kts complimented by the reef-break and rolling swell are anything to go by. The riders tested the conditions warming up with spectacular tricks as the kiteboard racers flashed across the bay in choppy and gusty conditions to the unalloyed delight of the Indonesian school children and officials who had attended the opening ceremony.The ceremony for the event, with Bintan Regency as the presenting sponsors supported by the Bintan Tourism Department and the Agro Beach Resort, was graced by traditional dancers and musicians in spectacular costumes. David Chen, KTA’s event director, was invited to open the proceedings and proceeded to thank Bintan for supporting the event in the form of officials from the Regency, the tourism department and the resort, as well as representatives from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). “This is our second time in this location; this time at Km52,” said Chen. “As always here, we have the best weather, the best wind and the best location. After all the international media attention [last year] we are now seeing more and more riders coming to this location because they are realising just how beautiful it is.” The KTA Indonesia was then formally opened by Mr Ansar Ahmad the Vice-regent of Bintan by him personally launching a kite. Kiting has a long history in Indonesia and Mr Ansar showed that this flying skill was in the blood of every Indonesian.But the conditions and the environment threw up some unexpected challenges and a few minor injuries, with formula kiteboard racer Bitna Kim (KOR) hit by a flying-fish as she was practising and twin-tip racers Jay Ortiz (PHI) suffering a shredded kite and cuts when he was dragged over rocks near the reef after dropping his kite in a wind shift. The coming days’ competition promises to be intriguing.

KTA Indonesia, Bintan, 22. 26.Jan.2014
Freestyle Results First Round Robin

Men Gender

1st Jaka Komocar SLO
2nd David Jordon Robinson Shields GBR
3rd Dylan van der Meij NED 
4th Reynard Gajisan PHI
5th Narapichit Pudla THA
5th Doque Delos Santos PHI

Women Gender

1st Kelly Schouten NED
2nd Estefania Rosa BRA
3rd Rosanna Jury GBR
4th Paula Rosales PHI

Lekker hoor! Dylan en Kelly uit NL in de top 3 van de singles! 

GOED BEZIGGGG

Super cool! Netjes gedaan beide! 

Dylan in de doubles door naar de finale geklommen, gewonnen en een super final gevaren! Het is nog aan de jury wie er eerste is geworden. Dutchies gaan lekkaahh

Sjeeh een paar uur nadenken om te beslissen wie de super final gewonnen heeft....

Zondag is de uitslag. Grote kans dat Dylan wint, z'n tegenstander had materiaal pech.

Freestyle winners of KTA Indonesia event kept on tenterhooks after tight finals wrap up but results held for Sunday’s closing ceremony

Trikora Beach Km52, Bintan – Both the men’s and women’s freestyle contests at the Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) were so tight they went to a “super-final” decider as the competitors executed their biggest moves almost faultlessly in near  perfect conditions on Indonesia’s Bintan island.

Jaka Komocar (SLO), victor in the round robin format of day one, was forced to face Dylan van der Meig (NED) twice after the 18-year-old battled his way back in the double elimination with a series of heats where he consistently landed powered tricks smoothly.

The Dutchman defeated Komocar, 17, in the first final despite the Slovenian almost matching him trick for trick, throwing down “S” bend passes, blind judge 3, and back mobes with similarly powerful fluidity.

Komocar was given another chance to clinch the KTA Indonesia title with a deciding super-final, but tore a binding off his board in the last minute as a double “S” bend pass went awry in the surf break, ending his heat.

But both teenagers will have to wait until Sunday’s closing ceremony of the event,  whose presenting sponsor is Bintan Regency supported by the tourism department and Agro Beach Resorted,  when the organizers will reveal the outcome.

“The last final was not my best, but I hope it was enough,” said van der Meig. “I was certainly pleased to get the win over him in the first final. It gave me confidence for the ‘super-final’.  I’d got used to the conditions more today and the officials moved the competition box inshore, giving us more space and the chance to use the kickers.”

The women’s freestyle contest also went to a nail biting “super-final” after Estefania Rosa Santos (BRA) saw off a challenge from the 21-year-old British champion, Rosanna Jury, who took a hard crash in shallow water when she caught a wave in an “S” bend attempt.

Santos, 26, the Brazilian number two, then took out Kelly Shouten (NED), the winner from day one as both women experienced difficulty completing their allotted five tricks from nine attempts in the seven-minute final in the winds gusting to 25kts in the rolling swell.

In the tense super-final Santos landed five air passes during her repertoire that included a Blind Judge 3, Slim Chance, and a Shifty 3 that left her elated on and off the water and Shouten slightly gloomy about her prospects when the results are finally unveiled.

“It was tough for me today, it definitely didn’t go as well as yesterday,” said Shouten, on her first foray back to competitive riding since her cruciate ligament surgery last April. “Conditions were easier than yesterday, but I just didn’t really get into the flow of landing all my tricks. I feel I didn’t do enough to win.”

By comparison a beaming Santos was confident her stellar riding would be sufficient for the judges to give her victory. “I feel very relaxed,” she said. “I think five air passes is more than enough. After losing yesterday it much more energy, so today was better.”

With the freestyle contest completed the racers were again given the chance to take to the water, though the difficulties posed by  the tough conditions of strong winds and huge swell  on day one forced officials to set a shorter course for safety reasons, with Formula kiteboarders completing three circuits of the track and the Twin-Tip racers one.

Narapichit “Yo” Pudla (THA), who had unusually faltered in the freestyle contest, was almost flawless in both the raceboard and twin-tip classes as he elected to take part in the three races in each division run back-to-back.

Of the six races Pudla, 23, won five and took a second in the twin-tip class, only beaten by Doque Delos Santos (PHI), the reigning KTA champion. In the raceboard class Pudla was chased hard by his training partner Chanon “Jack” Phrakaew (THA) and Nils Stolzlechner (AUT), both of whom took seconds and thirds.

Stolzlechner, a raceboard designer for Gaastra, was pleased with the shortened course in the conditions, though in the dropping breeze had struggled to find an optimum compromise between his 10m and 13m kites.

In the women’s raceboard class Astrid Berz (SUI), who had placed fifth overall at the Kiteboard Racing World Championships in China last November, put in strong performances winning two of the three races and retiring in a third.

Kathrin Borgwardt (GER) took the opportunity to snatch a wind with Berz gone, and scored to second places, along with three victories in the twin-tip class.

“The courseboard race was a big challenge with the huge waves outside,” said Borgwardt. “Down-wind with the big swell it’s more like surfing, but the risk is that you run under your kite. Astrid Berz is just too fast and my wins yesterday and today were because of her mistakes. But I’m pretty happy.”

Super netjes van Dylan & Kelly!
Nederland aan top :)

BWOAAP!   Lekker Dylan, Trots op onze teambeuker!