2012 KSP wild cards announced

Saturday, 31 March 2012 09:32

Maui, Hawaii — March 30, 2012: The KSP is pleased to announce their wildcard picks for the 2012 KSP Tour Season as well as the addition of the latest supporting industry member, Cabrinha Kites. The application period for KSP tour riders officially closed on March 1, 2012. The list of applicants was thoroughly reviewed by the IKA and then sent forward to KSP and PKRA in order to allow them to make their wild card selections. The KSP’s seven board members considered their decision, taking into account several factors such as the IKA qualification system, the riding level and future potential of each rider. Following a long deliberation, the KSP board members agreed to award the coveted KSP wild card slots to the following riders: Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA) - Sebastian is a young, red-hot Brazilian surfer turned kitersurfer who was the recipient of the KSP Best Up And Comer award in Peru in 2011. His flowing style turned a lot of heads and impressed his opponent and judges alike. Considering the strong Brazilian contingent on tour and the fact that Sebastian was unlikely to be put forward by his National Association due to fewer competition results than some of his fellow country men, the KSP felt that Sebastian was a thoroughly deserving candidate for a wildcard slot with an extremely promising competitive future. Grant "Twiggy" Baker (RSA) - Twiggy is a world renowned waterman best known for throwing himself over the ledge of the biggest, most dangerous waves on the planet under his own paddle power. Twiggy won the Mavericks big wave competition in 2006, the Billabong XXL Biggest Wave in 2007 and remains a constant fixture on the big wave scene. Twiggy has been kiting since the early days of the sport and competed at the Mauritius invitational event in 2006, which saw some of the biggest waves ever ridden at One Eye. Twiggy’s past achievements, vast experience and competitive prowess make him the perfect nominee for a KSP Tour Wildcard. Ninja Bichler (GER) – Ninja first appeared on the scene as a wildcard at last year’s inaugural KSP event on Mauritius. Needless to say, she blew minds as she absolutely charged 10 foot One Eye throughout the entire competition, eventually landing top spot on the podium. However, having not competed in Peru, Ninja fell just short of qualifying for the 2012 KSP Tour. Ninja’s incredible performance on Mauritius, flowing style and fearless approach made her the prime choice for the 2012 KSP Female Wildcard. The PKRA has also made their decision, selecting the following riders to receive the PKRA Wildcards for the 2012 KSP season: Keahi de Aboitiz (AUS) - 1st place PKRA wave tour 2011 Abel Lago (ESP) - 3rd place PKRA wave tour 2011 Kari Schibevaag (NOR) - 1st place PKRA wave tour 2011 These 6 riders will join the top 8 male (Airton Cozzolino, Mitu Monteiro, Guilly Brandao, Mauricio Pedreira, Sky Solbach, Jesse Richman, Juan Pablo Diban, Patri McLaughlin) and top 4 female (Ines Correia, Marie Gautron, Kristin Boese, Melissa Gil) pre-qualified riders from last year’s overall KSP Tour rankings. All of the aforementioned riders will then be joined by the additional 10 male and 5 female riders to be announced by the IKA on April 1, 2012. The KSP is also happy to announce the signing-on of its most recent Industry member, Cabrinha Kites. The KSP is thrilled to add Cabrinha to the growing list of brands supporting the vision to push competitive kitesurfing to the next level. Cabrinha joins existing industry members North Kiteboarding, Best Kiteboarding, Underground, F-One and Naish. Hello there! We are looking forward to your comment but to protect the site from SPAM we require you to register as a user. If you are not already signed up then simply join by clicking the login/register button in the upper right hand corner. You will also automatically start receiving our newsletter and updates! FG_AUTHORS: KSP

UPDATE IKA:

Participants for the 2012 Wave World Championship Tour announced
Sunday, 01 April 2012 10:34

Following the KSP World Tour Riders application process, which ended on March 1st, the IKA is pleased to announce the final line up of riders for the 2012 Wave World Championship Tour season run by the KSP Tour.

After the application period ended and an impressive number of 55 male and 18 female applications from all around the world were received, the formerly announced qualification procedure took place. Within that procedure the PKRA and KSP were each given the opportunity to choose their two male and one female wildcards respectively. During this time the IKA consulted with the national associations of countries from which more than one rider had applied in order to give them the opportunity to choose their top rider to be put forward for this year’s KSP tour. The riders were chosen by the IKA under the criteria of creating a slate with the highest possible riding level while also keeping the field of competitors on the KSP as international as possible. With some of the world’s top riders and a total of 18 countries in the slate, the 2012 world title race is going to be phenomenal.

Riders that have been selected to receive a KSP Tour Card will join the top 8 male and 4 female pre-qualified riders from last year’s wave world ranking as well as the KSP and PKRA wild cards and will have until April 15, 2012 to accept the tour license that will be offered to them directly from the KSP. Any licenses that are not accepted will automatically go back to the pool for national riders and the IKA and KSP will select the next rider on the list, either by nationality or other criteria as outlined in the qualification criteria.

The list of the 10 male and 5 female riders that have been selected to compete on the 2012 Wave World Championship tour and that will complete the slate of 22 male and 11 female tour riders reads as follows:

Marciel “Matchu” Lopes Almeida (CPV)
Luke McGillewie (RSA)
Jakob Appel (DEN)
Etienne Lhote (FRA)
Lee Harvey (GBR)
Paulino Pereira (POR)
Mark Moore (CAN)
Jan Marcos Riveras (DOM)
Cameron Biehl (USA)
Filippe Ferreira (BRA)

Kirsty Jones (GBR)
Jalou Langere (NED)
Ainhoa Garcia (ESP)
Maria Celina Guardati (ARG)
Milla Knesse Ferreira (BRA)

The above riders will join last year’s top 8 male and top 4 female riders:

Airton Cozzolino (ITA)
Mitu Monteiro (CPV)
Guilly Brandao (BRA)
Mauricio Pedreira (BRA)
Sky Solbach (USA)
Jesse Richman (HI)
Juan Pablo Diban (CHI)
Patri McLaughlin (HI)

Ines Correia (POR)
Marie Gautron (FRA)
Kristin Boese (GER)
Melissa Gil (USA)

As well as the selected KSP wild cards:

Grant “Twiggy” Baker (RSA)
Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA)
Ninja Bichler (GER)

And PKRA wild cards:

Keahi De Aboitiz (AUS)
Abel Lago (ESP)
Kari Schibevaag (NOR)

Local and one-event riders will be notified about the qualification process, as time draws closer to the relevant event, by the KSP and/or local organizers directly.