SUP Gran Canaria ProAm: Luchy Cosoleto and Taka Inoue are the new SUP Surf World Champions

Barely two minutes had passed in the men's final when Japan's Taka Inoue tackled his first wave. First he made a snap in the turn, then he approached the lip to return with a "re-entry" move and increase his speed. Suddenly, almost vertically, his board lost contact with the water and as he fell, Taka lost his balance. Any mere mortal would have been finished, not Taka. He stuck the paddle far back in the water, stayed in an almost impossible position, positioned his feet and rode down the wave, hands raised, fist clenched in celebration of his success.

This show dominated the final rounds in the supreme discipline of the Gran Canaria Pro-Am 2024, the final of the APP World Tour at Playa de Las Canteras on Gran Canaria. Two new world champions were crowned there yesterday: While Argentinian Luchy Cosoleto was unbeatable in the women's event, Taka Inoue won the men's event, and not just because of his acrobatic save. "That's a cat," marvelled Tristan Boxford, founder and CEO of the APP World Tour. "No matter how you throw it, it always lands on its feet." Meanwhile, Benoit Carpentier from France and Sebastián Gómez from Peru shared bronze.

Iballa Moreno did not have her best day

Iballa Moreno Ruano, legend of Gran Canaria and the only woman to have won two world titles in two different sports in the same year - SUP and windsurfing in 2019 - took third place, which she shared with Kaede Inoue, Sakura's sister. Iballa didn't make it past the semi-finals against Sakura, where she didn't find the rhythm or feel to show her usual repertoire. She soon fell behind and was unable to recover as time ran out. Iballa did not have the best day.

Kaede Inoue, 16 years old, beat the defending champion to book her place in the final. Her sister Sakura, who is a few years older, lost to Luchy Cosoleto. The Argentinian, who had finished second and third in her previous appearances on the island, was hungry for the title and knew how to win with a strategy based on complete confidence in her movements. The decisive duel between the two was very close. Sakura scored first with two waves and opened her account with 7.07 points. Cosoleto responded with a great ride, with 'snap' and 'carve', and 6.33 points. Each of them showed their own personality on the board.

The Argentinian waited for the right wave. She scored 13.5 points at lightning speed and passed the pressure on to her opponent, who did her best with every attempt to increase her score to 9.74 points. But Luchy, with more experience, always kept control of the heat and was finally celebrated on the shoulders of her team-mates and friends with her first victory in Gran Canaria as the new world champion.

Taka Inoue storms to the World Championship title

The men's final took place under opposite auspices. Luis Diniz, a Brazilian rider and a legend in the sport, arrived in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as the reigning world champion. However, the young Japanese rider Taka Inoue, older brother of the two Inoue sisters, was a whirlwind from the very first second of the competition. Aggressive in his movements, always vertical and with a lot of risk. The type of athlete who seems a little over-excited and exaggerated, but who always reaches the finish line first. He was very self-confident and went full throttle from his first wave.

The first wave earned him more than 8 points, the second 7.50 and the third 8.77. He was quick as a flash at 16.27, while his opponent, a little more patient and calculating, waited for the good wave with only two points. The judges keep the two best waves to determine the points, and the Brazilian needed two waves with at least 9 points. He took off with three minutes to go. The audience on the Paseo de Las Canteras stood up enthusiastically. The legend worked through his repertoire: extreme turns, slashes, cut backs and floaters of all kinds. But he finished with 14.47 points, not enough to beat Taka Inoue.

Many exciting heats

"We had a great day of competition and a great final, even though the waves got weaker and weaker as the hours went by. But they always stayed consistent and the level of competitors was very good this year. They put on a great show in every series, with many ties, some of which were decided by a difference of half a point or in the final seconds, like Taka in his semi-final against Sebastian Gómez, who is a very strong competitor," explained Tristan Boxford, who singled out Taka Inoue and Luchy Cosoleto as fair winners. "They beat athletes with a high level and a lot of experience. Cosoleto is now a very experienced rider. She didn't make any mistakes and deserved to win the world championship," he concluded.

The Gran Canaria Pro Am Cup, organised by Björn Dunkerbeck, runs until 8 December. The U21 categories start today and the competition in the longboard class begins in Los Muellitos.

• All results and livestream are available at sup-grancanaria.com

The highlights in the video