De jeugd heeft het getroffen met de wind in Spanje tijdens de WKL Youth Cup, in 3 dagen hebben ze het freestyle gedeelte af kunnen ronden. De komende dagen is er nog tijd voor clinics met oa Youri Zoon en een best trick wedstrijd.
Nederlands succes was er bij de dames 15-18 jaar, met een 2de plek voor Pippa van Iersel en een 3de plek voor Sorsha van der Ark
Day three at the WKL Youth Cup in Costa Brava was a glimpse into the future of kiteboarding. All categories displayed an extremely high level of riding. The wind remained consistent throughout the day, so all heats were completed, and the finals were run back to back until 6pm.
The first final to be held was the Girls 8-14, which saw a 4 girls face each other for a podium position. Mikaili Sol had a difficult heat, and was unable to land her usual array of tricks. She crashed several of her attempts, but did manage a nice S-Bend to Blind scoring 8.3 at the last moment. Roux managed to land all of her tricks, but unfortunately they did not score high enough to place her in the top position. Anna Hashed similarly landed 4 of her 6 attempts, but none of the girls could beat Osaia Reding who landed a clean S-Bend to Blind and Blind Judge, and rode consistently through the heat, giving her the advantage and the first position for this category.
For the Girls 15-18 Category final it was Spanish rider Claudia Leon who dominated with 4 completed handle-pass tricks. Pippa Van Irsel from the Netherlands followed in second place who started her heat nicely with a powerful Backside 313. Van der Ark and Osorio followed in 3rd and 4th position, both riding well but not landing enough high scoring tricks to gain the lead.
The Boys 12-14 final was a nail-biting heat right until the last moment. Each of the riders rode extremely well landing technical tricks back to back, including Double S-Bend 3’s, KGB’s and S-Mobe 5’s. It was finally Moroccan rider Jonas Ouahmid who stormed to victory throwing down a final Hinterger 5 scoring 7.37 and placing him just above Brazilian rider Penha Costa who came in second just behind him. Modrek and Perineau placed in 3rd and 4th position but with very little difference between them all.
An amazing final was run for Boys 15-16 that had the whole beach watching anxiously in anticipation. All the riders showed an outstanding level, but on his final trick attempt, Maxime Chabloz overtook his team mate Dos Santos. They both landed a Backside 317 on their final attempt but it was Swiss rider Chabloz who managed to gain the higher score giving him the win. 3rd place went to talented rider Rodriguez from Colombia who landed a massive Double S-Bend 3. Nino Liboni took 4th position, after riding very well throughout the event. Former Champion Tom Bridge also landed some great and innovative tricks but crashed three of his attempts and finished in 5th position. 6th place went to Edgar Ulrich who struggled to land several of his attempts, despite riding very well for the duration of the event.
The day came to a close with another action-packed final for Boys 17-18 which saw the two Dominican riders Adeuri Corniel and Lorenzo Calcano battle it out alongside Luca Pitot and Rodriguez. Adeuri pulled out an outstanding Slim 7, Backside 315 and Front Blind Mobe. He was closely followed by Colombian rider Rodriguez who also displayed outstanding skills throughout this competition, and landed a Double S-Bend 3 and Backside 315. Pitot had a tough start but his Slim 5 on his last attempt put him in 3rd position, and it was Calcano from the Dominican Republic who took the 4th position.
The level of riding that was displayed today was incredibly high as the riders gradually got used to our competition format and learnt how to use the live scoring to assist them during their heats.
Tomorrow we will be holding a clinic for the riders at 10am together with Youri Zoon, and the skipper’s meeting will follow at 12pm, with the intention of running a best trick category.
All scores and tricks from today’s competition can be viewed here.
Please see the video highlights from our first day of action here.