Cumbuco, Brazil, once again delivered the goods for the second day of Elite Championship freestyle action.  The Men’s Round 2 was completed, together with the Women’s Rounds 1 and 2.

Heat 10 was first in sequence, continuing from yesterday, where the heat was postponed after the 4th trick attempt due to the dropping wind. Erick Anderson, the local Wildcard, continued to build upon yesterday’s strong performance, ending his heat with a nice Backside 317 and Hinterberger Mobe 7. He advanced to the next round, and joining him was Louka Pitot from France, after succeeding on keeping his lead from yesterday.

Heat 11

Stefan Spiessberger rode a nice and clean selection of tricks for Heat 11, landing him a spot in Round 3. The second place was a battle between three french riders, Romain Giuliano, Julian Krikken and Edgar Ulrich. It was Giuliano who managed to break through and join Spiessberger in Round 3.

Heat 12

Liam Whaley went all in for Heat 12, landing every single trick attempt, including a powered Slim7. He finished the heat with a fantastic overall score, locking down his spot in the next round. Young Colombian Valentin Rodriguez joined him after landing some big tricks of his own.

Women’s Round 1

Heat 1

The Women were next in sequence, and Rita Arnaus completed her heat with great confidence and consistent riding. The talented Spanish rider landed a solid Hinterberger Mobe and and a Backside 313. She was delighted to pass directly to Round 3, with Therese Taabbel and Nathalie Lambrecht passing to Round 2.

Heat 2

Vera Klabbers was back to competition after missing our Dakhla event due to injury. She rode well with a focused approach, and landed a massive Slim Chance scoring 7 points for her final trick. This allowed her to advance directly to Round 3, with Paula Novotna and Dioneia Vieira passing to Round 2.

Heat 3

Pippa Van Iersel from the Netherlands left us speechless with her massive 9.3 Heart Attack in Heat 3. Mikaili Sol, our current leader, did not disappoint, and landed a fantastic Slim Chance and KGB amongst her attempts. She advances to Round 3, with Van Iersel and Maureen Castelle passing to Round 2.

Heat 4

Francesca Bagnoli is having a fantastic season so far, and today was a great opening for her final event of the year. She landed a Slim Chance and nice Hinterberger Mobe to ensure her spot in Round 3. Estefania Rosa and Kristina Belogorskaya will have another chance in Round 2.

Men’s Round 3

After a short break, Men’s Round 3 was resumed, which would allow the top two athletes to advance to the semi-finals.

Heat 13

We saw some incredible riding from Adeuri Corniel from the Dominican Republic, landing an impressive KGB7 scoring 9.93 points. He kept a lead throughout the heat, but the remaining three competitors faced a tough battle in the fight to advance in second place. Anthar Racca, Louka Pitot and Luis Alberto Cruz were close in points and kept pushing each other harder. Pitot pulled out all the stops and landed a Backside 315 and KGB5, finishing the heat with a good total score of 29, but it still wasn’t quite enough to catch up to Anthar Racca from Mexico, who advances to the next Round together with Adeuri. Luis Alberto Cruz and Pitot were sadly unable to advance.

Heat 14

Heat 14 saw three local Brazilians – Kalu de Sousa, Erick Anderson and Alex Neto, faced french athlete Val Garat. Kalu De Sousa has been making a name for himself during our last events, and today was no exception. He gained a total score of  31.14 points  and gained himself a spot in the semi-finals. Erick Anderson continued on his strong performance, and joins De Sousa in the semi-finals.

Heat 15

Set Teixeira had a slow start for Heat 15, but made an incredible comeback towards the end of his heat, landing a Front Blind Mobe and securing his spot in the semi- finals. Gianmaria Coccoluto performed exceptionally well and joins him in the next round. Valentin Rodriguez from Colombia performed well and almost made it through, but got knocked out together with Stefan Spiessberger towards the end of the heat, much to their disappointment.

Heat 16

Current World Champion once again showed his domination in heat 16, landing big tricks for each attempt. His effortless style led him easily through to the semi-finals. The bigger battle taking place was for the other three riders in the heat, who wanted to take that second spot. Maxime Chabloz was feeling good, and landed a superb 319 scoring him 9.07 points, however it all came down to his final trick, which he crashed, sadly eliminating him from the competition. Liam Whaley seemed to be feeling the pressure, riding against some of the newcomers that have been competing in the Elite Championships during his absence, but he made up for it by scoring 9.23 points for an outstanding Slim 7. His consecutive KGB5 allowed him to lock down his spot in the semi-finals. Romain Giuliano opened with a nice 317 but then crashed, losing his kite. Thanks to caddy-of-the-year Louka Pitot, he could complete his heat as Pitot body dragged all the way out to him to give him his own equipment. He gave it a solid effort, but was knocked out together with Chabloz.

Women’s Round 2

Heat 5

At 3pm it was time for the women to head into their second round. The conditions were tricky for the women, as they battled a fairly big shore break. Local wildcard Estefania Rosa had a storming heat as she landed trick after trick and secured herself a spot in the Semi-finals. Dioneia Vieira, also local athlete, joins her.

Heat 6

Paula Novotna got straight to the point during Heat 6, and landed solid tricks with a committed performance to advance to the next round. Pippa van Iersel was determined to join her, and fought hard with Therese Taabbell for the spot, but Therese’s crash on her final trick attempt ender her hopes of advancing, and it went to Novotna and Van Iersel.

The action continues tomorrow, with the skipper’s meeting called for 8.30 am and a first possible start at 9.30 am, so be sure to tune into our Facebook Page or to our Youtube Channel.

Images from the event can be downloaded here. 

WKC Media