Is he? Or isn’t he quite there yet? Neither the commentators on the live stream nor the PWA ticker were entirely sure what the victory meant for Lennart Neubauer. With an outstanding performance in the final against Dieter van der Eyken, Lennart has won the Single Elimination – does that also make him the 2026 Freestyle World Champion? The big celebrations will have to wait a little longer, as the PWA is keeping the theoretical possibility of a Double Elimination open. However, given the forecast, the chances of further heats are vanishingly slim.
Lennart Neubauer had started the day with the utmost concentration and was once again the first out on the water. The wind on Wednesday morning offered the best conditions of the event so far: enough wind for the 5.2 and glorious sunshine. Right from the start, Lennart found himself in the second semi-final – The first one had already taken place on Sunday - Balz Müller. Although the Swiss rider was trailing Lennart by a relatively clear margin at the start, he then staged an impressive comeback and made it a nail-biter once again. In the end, both scored well over 30 points, with a margin of just under two points between them. “I knew how important this heat was and that it was a close contest,” said Lennart afterwards. “The conditions were tricky; there was a strong current.”
Unleashed in the final with a personal best
In the final against Dieter van der Eyken, the pressure seemed to lift from Lennart and he rode as if unleashed. He even pulled off his new Shaka into Shaka combo again and ended up with over 38 points – the best score of the event! And just like Bernd Roediger in the wave, Lennart had music playing in his ears during the heat. “That was the soundtrack from a Kiri Thode video, mainly the beat,” he explained afterwards.
The third-place play-off was also a nail-biter, with the young Japanese rider Takumi Moriya edging past Balz Müller in the final minute. This was the young Japanese rider’s first PWA podium; Ben Proffitt and George Grisley predicted a bright future for him during the live stream – he is set to become Lennart Neubauer’s main rival. And Dieter van der Eyken secured second place, his second podium finish to date alongside his 2015 World Championship win! “It feels surreal to be standing here on the podium with Takumi,” said van der Eyken afterwards, referring to his protégé, with whom he trains a great deal.
All scores and results can be found at pwaworldtour.com
Following the freestyle finals, it’s the foil racers’ turn for the rest of the day. Can Fabi Wolf stay in the lead?
