IWT x PWA Chile: Julian Salmonn and Alexia Kiefer on fire - favourites in command

The professionals finally got to compete at the World Cup in Chile! After the Challenger Round was completed - Vicente Gonzalez and Tomer Shamgar made it into the men's main draw, Dominica Osman and Camila Curinao won the women's event - the first round of the men's and women's events went ahead. With head-high to logo-high waves and plenty of wind, at least for the most part, it was straight down to business.

But the best came at the very end. After the big names such as Marcilio Browne, Thomas Traversa and Antoine Martin had shown solid performances in their heats, Julian Salmonn fired from all cylinders in the last heat of the Pro Men's and became the show stopper. With four strong aerials, he scored an 8.63, the highest wave score of the day. Even style god Bernd Roediger had nothing to hold against Salmonn and had to settle for second place, but still achieved the third-highest overall heat score of the day. Alessio Stillrich was last in the heat and had to go through to the intermediate round.

There was also a real eye-catcher in the women's category at the end of the day: youngster Alexia Kiefer-Quintana put in an outstanding performance with quick snaps under the lip of some big sets. The reward: the highest overall score in the women's category - and in a field that was anything but weak. Sarah Hauser, Lina Erpenstein and Justyna Sniady had already made it through to the second round, while Jane Seman and Pauline Katz also progressed. However, Maria Behrens, Sybille Bode and Sol Degrieck will have to hope for their chance in the repechage round, the losers' bracket.

Browne was missing a second wave, Köster tricks

The men's contest began with an exciting heat, with Marcilio Browne facing Camille Juban, Adam Warchol and Tamer Shamgar. In the end, less than two points separated first from fourth. Browne's perfection was second to none in the first waves, earning a 7.23 score that included several top-to-bottom turns in the pocket and a solid aerial to finish. He did find some solid back-up waves, but nothing that could match his first wave. After a shaky start, however, Juban showcased his aerial skills with two airs on one wave. In the last two minutes, when he still needed a good back-up, he managed a radical tweaked air from the main peak to take the lead.

Local Alex Vargas kicked off Heat 2 with a 6.50 on his first wave and showed the crowd how to ride Matanzas. He easily found several back-up scores to retain the lead, while Takara Ishii narrowly edged out Takuma Sugi and Dieter Van der Eyken in a close duel for second place.

Windsurf traveller Federico Morisio showed the results of his long stays in Chile, riding fast and timing his jumps perfectly. He performed several aerials and a goiter in a smaller set, securing his place in the next round. Local Arnaud Frennet grabbed a very good wave and showed several critical aerials, which earned him the best score of the heat, but was unable to find a back-up. Miguel Chapuis, on the other hand, was in third place for most of the heat, but chalked up a goiter in the last minute and moved into second place.

Jules Denel and Antoine Martin with top scores

Morgan Noireaux looked like the sure winner in heat four due to his superior wave skills, aggressive turns and aerial ability, but Jules Denel popped a 7.77 and took the win with several nicely timed aerials. Antoine Martin then continued with a good mix of fin slides in the pocket, aerials and a one-handed lip hit to achieve his best wave score of 7.77. Liam Dunkerbeck sneaked into second place with a solid aerial performance. Thomas Traversa and Victor Fernandez showed several aerials and hard turns in the pocket to prevail against local ripper Benjamin Fabres and progress.

Both the women's and men's events are expected to continue today, with the repechage rounds on the programme first. The final rounds could then take place at the weekend.

On the Youtube channel of the IWT there is a livestream, all heats and information can be found at internationalwindsurfingtour.com/chile-2024/

The livestream to watch afterwards