PWA World Cup Fuerteventura: One after the other - slalom is followed by freestyle, lots of surprises in the first rounds
SURF
· 02.08.2023
Lots of excitement in the early rounds of the men's competition
The only German in the race, Niclas Nebelung, achieved his best result in the World Cup to date. After an impressive victory over freestyle world champion Steven Van Broeckhoven, he finished in a shared fifth place. He then unfortunately lost to Frenchman Antony Ruenes, narrowly missing out on a place in the top four.
Balz Müller also took fifth place after a - who would have expected otherwise - wacky and entertaining performance. He brought his innovative approach to the contest, landing the first tabletop backloop and a cheeseroll 360 in the contest, while providing some classic freestyle moments in his heats with body drags and a hand wash duck gybe. Müller, who was unseeded because he didn't compete last year, also caused the surprise of the day in the men's event when he knocked out runner-up Jacopo Testa in the first round. The Italian will now have a tough, long tour in the second round to fight his way back.
Young star Lennart Neubauer, who actually seemed to have returned to top form after his long injury break, also has a long way to go in the second round - he surprisingly lost in the first round to a very strong Antoine Albert from New Caledonia. Albert started his sensational run with a clean air kabikuchi and air chachoo and found a good rhythm. Lennart caught up towards the end, but his last move came a second too late and was not counted.
World champion Adrien Bosson tricks confidently
The reigning world champion, Adrien Bosson, confidently secured his place in the top four. In an impressive series of heats, the Frenchman consistently achieved results in the mid to high thirties. He beat Michael Chovan, Robin van Linden and Sam Esteve in the process.
Bosson will now face a tough test against Yentel Caers, who scored the highest score of the day in the quarter-finals against Antoine Albert with 39.2 points. The 2019 world champion tricked with his usual powerful style and will make for an exciting duel against Bosson today.
Vrieswijk back on the freestyle board
Vrieswijk scored 39.1 points, the second-highest score of the day, against Swiss skier Balz Müller. The 27-year-old seemed to have seamlessly switched from slalom to freestyle. Freestyle may no longer be Vrieswijk's main focus, but you wouldn't bet against him making it to the top.
Two strong newcomers
George Grisley (UK) and Bodhi Kempen (Netherlands) both made their debut on the men's Freestyle World Tour, and both riders started with a win - Grisley over Nicolas Akgazciyan, while Kempen beat Nicolo di Marco.
Sarah-Quita fights for 14th women's freestyle title
The Aruban got her campaign off to a flying start on the first day of freestyle, scoring 27 points in the quarter-finals to secure her place in the semi-finals, where she will face Lina Erpenstein, who was making her Freestyle World Tour debut. Sarah-Quita, just like Vrieswijk, switched from slalom to freestyle equipment from one day to the next and didn't seem to have any problems with it - the Queen of Windsurfing tricked as smoothly and stylishly as ever.
Lina Erpenstein and Lisa Kloster - two Germans in the semi-finals?
Lina Erpenstein scored an impressive victory over Arrianne Aukes during her debut on the Freestye World Tour and advanced to the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Oda Brødholt won with an efficient performance against Olya Raskina. Oda would probably have expected to rekindle her rivalry with Maaike Huvermann afterwards - but that will have to wait, as Lisa Kloster caused a major surprise by beating Huvermann in Heat 13b to claim the biggest win of her career. The heat had to be repeated, and after this was done, Kloster won with 15.40 to 15.05 points.
But there is still uncertainty. Apparently the heat will be repeated again today (as the first heat of the day). It therefore remains to be seen whether Lisa Kloster will actually be in the semi-finals.
Solid forecast for the coming days
With another solid forecast, the single elimination should be completed today. The riders will gather at 11am for the skippers meeting and the action will start at 11.30am (GMT+1).
Have fun!
