Freestyle Pro Tour Paros: Mega excitement in the finals - Lennart Neubauer also wins the double elimination

The second day of the Freestyle Pro Tour on Paros followed on seamlessly from the windy start. With winds of around 30 knots, the Meltemi provided perfect conditions for the double elimination format. This gives athletes who are eliminated in the first round a second chance.

• Freestyle Pro Tour Paros: Strong winds and new format make for a crazy freestyle spectacle, Lennart Neubauer wins the single elimination

The juniors kicked things off, with 15-year-old Yoad Shaham in particular causing a stir. After his early exit in the second round of the single elimination, he showed an impressive comeback. He wowed the crowd with punetas, air funnels and ponches and even performed a toad in the semi-final. Despite this strong performance, Shaham was once again beaten by Pier Bongianni in the final. The Italian, who had already won the single elimination, performed a big shaka and a classic gozzada despite the difficult conditions far out. That was enough to secure overall victory in the youth and junior class.

Changing conditions demand flexibility

After the junior final, the wind initially dropped so that the start of the pro men's competition had to be postponed. When the Meltemi freshened up again in the afternoon, most of them initially opted for larger sails between 4.8 and 5.2 square metres. The changeable conditions made things difficult at times, for example in the duel between Pier Bongianni and Sokratis Saraliotis in the second round. Whilst Saraliotis started with a spectacular Shaka 360, the decreasing wind then caused him problems. Bongianni, on the other hand, relied on a strategy of smaller but consistently executed manoeuvres such as esliders, punetas and clew-first variations.

Bodhi Kempen showed an impressive comeback after his first-round elimination the day before. With a versatile repertoire of flaka-shaka combinations, paskos and sliding manoeuvres, he fought his way through several rounds. His ability to adapt to the changing wind conditions was a key to his success, as the wing picked up significantly over the course of the afternoon.

Showdown of the top people

The showdown between the top riders then took place in the last four heats of the day. First up was Jacopo Testa against Takumi Moriya, and it was an extremely close and exciting heat. Takumi filled out his scoresheet on the inside with 3 combo moves - a Shaka Flaka, a Flaka Shaka and a Spock Culo. Testa also showed a Flaka Shaka on the inside, but most of his points in this run came from big moves further outside, including a big Shove-It Spock and a Spock Culo. The judges needed a break to decide the winner - and Testa came out on top by a tiny margin of 0.13 points.

Next up was Testa against Yentel Caers - a heat that had already taken place in the single elimination. Both riders didn't hold back and showed their absolute A-game in what was now over 20 knots of wind. Yentel performed huge combos with Double Culo, Air Bob Culo, Air Funnel Burner and Spock Culo, rounded off with a Kabikuchi and Shove-It Spock. In the end, he scored an incredible 41.05 points on his scoresheet. Jacopo didn't let up though - he showed massive combos of his own, hitting a Flaka Shaka Flaka on the inside, his signature Shove-It Spock Spock, Double Culo and a Spock Kono, rounding off his heat with a Burner 360 and Kabikuchi. When the two came out of the water, the judges had to pause again to calculate the points, with the difference between the two being as little as 0.01 points at times - but in the end Yentel prevailed by less than a point and secured a place in the final against Lennart Neubauer.

Lennart Neubauer with a perfect final heat

In the final, Yentel Caers faced Lennart Neubauer, who had won the single elimination the day before. Both concentrated on the manoeuvres further out. Neubauer presented an impressive series of moves, including double burner, spock culo, double culo, air bob culo and kabikuchi. Yentel took exactly the same approach - jumping an early Shove-It Spock on the inside, before focussing fully on his starboard tack and filling his scoresheet with an Air Funnel Burner, Air Bob Culo, Kabikuchi, Double Culo and Spock Culo; all on the outside. In the end, however, Lennart didn't make a single mistake during the entire heat. With clinical precision, all but one of his moves were scored over 7 by the judges - ultimately earning him enough points to once again take the highest scoring heat of the day, beating Yentel by less than 2 points to win the Pro Men's Double Elimination. Afterwards, everyone took to the water for a photo session, where there were once again some gigantic moves to watch.

Despite the two double eliminations that have already been completed, the event in Paros is not over yet. Further highlights such as super sessions and experimental competition formats are on the programme in the coming days. Windsurfing fans can therefore look forward to more spectacular action on the Greek coast.

Results FPT Paros

Pro Men

1. Lennart Neubauer
2. Yentel Caers
3. Jacopo Testa
4. Takumi Moriya

Juniors

1. Pier Bongianni
2. Yoad Shaham