It is the eternal final at the PWA World Cup in Pozo: Victor Fernandez against Philip Köster. The Spaniard has already won the event six times, while Köster has seven victories to his name. It was hard work for both of them to reach the final. So today will be the big showdown for supremacy in Pozo. There was already a winner yesterday. Liam Dunkerbeck took the title in the U20 classification.
Liam Dunkerbeck wins the U20 title at the PWA World Cup in Pozo
Before the men's competition entered the decisive phase, the U20 boys had the chance to show what they could do yesterday, Friday. Some of the juniors are already competing successfully in the men's squad. This included Liam Dunkerbeck, who went into the water as the favourite and lived up to his role. With victories against Jahden Tyger from Brazil and Hayata Ishii from Japan, he made it to the final with his powerful style - always coached by his father Björn from the beach. From a German perspective, Lars Bubelach was beaten by Ishii in the last eight of the PWA Junior World Cup, but put in a good performance. Things went even better for Nick Spangenberg. He won against the Italian Samuele Ferraro, but was beaten in the semi-final by the Frenchman Titouan Flechet despite impressive backloops. In the small final against Hayata Ishii, Nick even managed a one-foot backloop for the first time, but the Japanese ultimately took the last place on the podium. In the Junior PWA World Cup final, Dunkerbeck Junior left nothing to chance and took the win against Titouan Flechet.
Pure excitement at the men's PWA World Cup
Liam Dunkerbeck had to get back on the water straight after the prize-giving ceremony for his round of 16 heat against Hawaiian Morgan Noireaux. He had not lost his concentration and narrowly beat the Maui specialist. However, Dunkerbeck Jr.'s winning run at the PWA World Cup at his home spot came to an end in the quarter-final against Victor Fernandez. The shared fifth place after the single elimination is nevertheless a terrific success.
In the last heat of the round of the best 16, Leon Jamaer was beaten by less than 0.3 points by his NeilPryde team-mate Robby Swift. In the end, he was unable to find a decent ramp for a better jump. He had won the wave classification against the Brit.
The first two heats of the quarter-finals, which took to the water together, were hard to beat in terms of excitement and class. Thomas Traversa faced Marcilio Browne, one of the absolute top favourites not only for the Pozo title but also for the overall title at the PWA World Cup 2022, having finished second in the first contest in Cape Verde behind Bernd Rödiger, who was not at the start in Pozo. And Brawzino was in absolute top form in training in Pozo. Philip Köster and Marc Paré contested the second heat. Paré also showed that he is ready for a PWA World Cup victory in the run-up and the first heats. Whether it's a stalled double, push forward or various tricks on the wave, he's got all the moves. But so did Philip Köster and so the most high-class heat of the day developed. Paré scored 25.9 points - an incredible score that would have been enough to win any other heat in the fourth final, but not against Philip Köster. The 28-year-old was extremely focussed and scored 27.6 points, the highest score so far at the PWA World Cup 2022 in Pozo
Drama between Browne and Traversa
The heat between Thomas Traversa and Mariclio Browne turned into a drama for the favourite Browne. After a perfect double forward at the start, he never found his flow. Wave ride after wave ride went down the drain, and although the Brazilian had ten waves on the scoresheet in the end, the two best scored waves only earned him 6.5 points. A solid heat was enough for Frenchman Thomas Traversa to knock the frustrated top favourite out of the race at the PWA World Cup in Gran Canaria - something he probably hadn't expected himself.
The other two quarter-finals were a little clearer. Pozo veteran Victor Fernandez - who won the PWA World Cup here for the first time back in 2006 - prevailed relatively clearly against youngster Liam Dunkerbeck. So the changing of the guard is not yet complete. In the final heat of the round of the best eight, Ricardo Campello, who won the event here at the last edition in 2019, made everything clear against Robby Swift, mainly due to his better jumps.
Top 4 at the PWA World Cup with top performances
The two semi-finals showed that Köster, Traversa, Fernandez and Campello had rightly got this far. Thomas Traversa showed outstanding wave riding against Philip Köster in ever worsening conditions. Despite this, it looked for a long time like a clear victory for Köster, as he didn't show any weakness either and almost equalled his own best score at this PWA World Cup with 27 points. But Traversa, who is not known as a great jumping specialist, could have turned everything around with a perfect double on his last run out. He also found a ramp and spun twice. But in the end, the 5.5 points were not enough to jeopardise Köster.
In the second semi-final, Ricardo Campello looked like the winner until the very last second. But then the six-time PWA World Cup winner in Pozo, Victor Fernandez, proved his nerves of steel and turned the heat in his favour with his final wave ride.
The final will be a Pozo classic between Philip Köster and Victor Fernandez. The conditions should be good again this Saturday for a spectacular final. The first possible start is at 11:30. All information and the livestream can be found here.
Andreas Erbe
Chief editor surf