IWT x PWA Chile: Köster with top score, Behrens in the quarter-finals

Chile seems to suit Philip Köster. After his victory last year, he is now getting better and better and scored 16.37 points in his round of 16 heat, the highest heat total of the competition so far. He started with some of the biggest aerials of the day, scoring a 7.67 on his first wave. He then improved with an 8.60, which included more aerials and a beautifully executed goiter. His opponent Antoine Martin jumped some good aerials and lip hits early on, securing second place despite a bandaged ankle.

The third man in the heat was Alessio Stillrich, who had fought his way back into the main event via the Redemption Round earlier in the day following his elimination in round one. He found his Matanzas rhythm and was able to surf some smaller waves well, showing a good selection of tail slides, snaps and aerials. But then it was over against Köster and Martin.

World champion Marcilio Browne is one of the other riders who have secured their place in the quarter-finals. He left nothing to chance in his heat and secured his first top score early on with perfect aerials and snaps. After a few "experimental" goiters, he found one of the best waves of the day, which he rode perfectly like a video game and finished with an 8.40.

Extremely tight heats

It was particularly close in Heat 3: Robby Swift, who was ill, had to go through the Redemption Round and Federico Morisio immediately scored the wave of the heat with successive high aerials. However, Morgan Noireaux took the lead shortly afterwards with his extraordinary style and aerials. Swift and Morisio swapped places several times during the heat, with Swift holding on despite a slight tear above the outhaul of his sail. In the end, Morisio's breathtaking aerial pushed him through to the next round with a lead of just 0.3 points.

Heat 4 was another nail-biter. Jules Denel managed several snaps and aerials in good sets and won, while Miguel Chapuis fought his way into second place ahead of Takuma Sugi. In the end, however, there were only 0.67 points between the winner Denel and the eliminated Japanese rider. Camille Juban is also through to the quarter-finals, as is local Andres Tobar, who had previously fought his way through the losers' bracket with two impressive rides.

Maria Behrens fights her way into the quarter-finals

There were only two heats in the women's Redemption Round yesterday. In Heat 1, Sol Degrieck dominated with a strong top-to-bottom surfing style on well-selected waves and finished her best performance with a nice aerial. Maria Behrens also found the better waves on which she created spray with aggressive turns on the face and a lip hit. Maria Andres and Coco Foveau progressed in the other heat, while Sybille Bode was eliminated. Next up are the quarter-final heats, in which Lina Erpenstein and Alexia Kiefer will also be back on the water!

The action continues today towards the evening European time, with large crowds expected on the beach in Matanzas over the next few days. The finals are expected to take place on Sunday and the forecast looks promising. A livestream is available on the IWT YouTube channel!

All heats and points are available at internationalwindsurfingtour.com/chile-2024/

The livestream to watch afterwards