The most famous pile of rubble in the windsurfing world has once again delivered. While the conditions during the PWA World Cup week in Pozo Izquierdo on Gran Canaria were rather tough and atypical for one of the windiest spots in the world and nobody believed in a double elimination, the final day once again brought incredible action. Both the women's and the men's second round were completed. The fact that this worked is also thanks to the tireless jury and the flexible organisation of the PWA World Cup. They went through heat after heat until the finals without interruption. The ladies even needed a super final to determine the final winner. This meant that the dignitaries had to wait until the early hours of the evening to celebrate the award ceremony. In view of the drama and triumphs of the day, nobody regretted it.
The last day of the PWA World Cup in Pozo began in the morning with a lot of wind but completely flat water. It wasn't until shortly before midday that the conditions were such that the jury sent the first men onto the water and continued the doubles in the second round. A little later, the women also attacked with their double elimination. With a relatively short twelve-minute heat duration and one wave and two jump classifications, the jury was hoping to finish the double on Sunday. At the same time, the short heat duration put all the riders under enormous pressure. Waiting and hesitating was not the order of the day. Every ramp and wave had to be utilised from the very first minute.
Lina Erpenstein makes a strong comeback at the PWA World Cup
Lina Erpenstein had a frustrating start to the PWA World Cup week. The 25-year-old medical student from Kiel lost her first heat against 12-year-old Belgian Sol Degrieck. Erpenstein, who had already finished on the podium once in Pozo in 2017, had to be patient and hope that she would get a second chance in the double. She got it and used it impressively. Fully focussed and motivated right down to the tips of her hair, she took to the water. And it quickly became clear that this woman had a mission. One after the other, she eliminated Lucia Trivino, Julia Pasquale, Alexia Kiefer-Quintana and Isabel Trivino. This secured her fifth place after a botched start. But that was not the end of her journey. In the heat against her long-time rival Justyna Sniady from Poland, you could clearly see the advantage that she was already well established in the difficult conditions. Sniady, on the other hand, took too long to find her rhythm. The heat for fourth place clearly went to Lina Erpenstein. She soared to impressive heights with her stalled fowards and pushloops. In the following heat for third place at the PWA World Cup against Sarah-Quita Offringa, she managed the highest jump in the women's competition to date. With a forward of 5.3 metres, she was suddenly leading the Red Bull Rocket ranking and already had one hand on the prize money of 2500 euros for the highest jump at the PWA World Cup in Pozo. In an interview later on, Lina admitted that it was the highest jump of her windsurfing career. She also stood it clean as a whistle and put Sarah-Quita on her heels at the end of the heat. In the end, Lina was less than one point short of another place on the Pozo podium. After six heats in the double, Lina was more than satisfied with her comeback.
The Queen of Pozo strikes back
For her part, Sarah-Quita now had the chance to make up ground in the PWA World Cup. But that would have required a victory against the undisputed Queen of Pozo, Daida Moreno. And she obviously still had a score to settle. Her twin sister Iballa had beaten her in the single elimination final. This was only the second time in the long history of the Moreno twins in the Pozo final. Not only did she snatch the winner's cheque at the Red Bull Rockets from Lina Erpenstein's hand with a six-metre high front loop, but she also showed the best wave ride in the entire women's competition. A huge wave 360, which was the envy of 90 per cent of the men's field, and the following turns on the wave earned her 8.25 points and an unassailable lead over Sarah-Quita.
The two Moreno sisters also faced off in the double elimination. And once again, it became clear that it is definitely an advantage when you are well travelled and face an opponent who has to accelerate from 0 to 100 from one moment to the next, so to speak. Daida forced her way into the Super Final to win the PWA World Cup 2022 in Pozo. Iballa got off to a visibly better start in the second final, but Daida narrowly kept her nose in front in both the jump and wave classifications. Daida, who has been struggling with health problems over the past year and is a proud mum, therefore remains the Queen of Pozo. A changing of the guard - at least in Pozo - is not yet in sight. Nevertheless, talents such as the Belgian Sol Degreick and the Trivino sisters from Tarifa, as well as Alexia Kiefer and Maria Behrens, have shown that there is a lot to look forward to in women's windsurfing in the waves in the future.
Man on a mission at the PWA World Cup 2022
Like Lina Erpenstein, Marcilio Browne still had a score to settle in the doubles. He was one of the absolute top favourites before the event. A Köster vs. Browne final would probably not have been an odds-on hit with bookmakers. Many observers had bet on such a final at the PWA World Cup in Pozo 2022. But in the singles, Frenchman Thomas Traversa declared these predictions null and void. He surprisingly beat the Brazilian in the quarter-finals. But before Browne started his chase to catch up, two Germans had also made it into the top ten in the doubles alongside Philip Köster. Julian Salmonn first won against Antoine Martin and then beat Dieter van der Eycken, mainly thanks to an excellent wave ride. However, the 23-year-old, who lives in Tenerife, then fell to Liam Dunkerbeck in the last eight. Leon Jamaer prevailed in the German-German duel against Flo Jung and then very narrowly against the Frenchman Jules Denel. After that, however, his path was also blocked against an unleashed Browne. Nevertheless, both can be satisfied with their shared ninth place.
But Leon Jamaer was only the first scalp Marcilio Browne picked up in the double. In the following heats, he showed what he was capable of with impressive consistency. Stalled doubles, table top doubles, push forwards, all garnished with radical wave rides not only fascinated the spectators, but also shocked the competition at the PWA World Cup. After Jamaer, Marc Paré and Marino Gil also had to admit defeat to the Brazilian. Then came the revenge against Thomas Traversa, who put up a fight with an excellent wave ride, but in the end was no match for Browne's jumping power. Ricardo Campello was not about to give up his place on the podium after the single elimination without a fight in the next heat, however, and so a high-class and exciting duel developed in which Campello chased Browne's lead for a long time. And with a huge push forward, which the judges honoured with a perfect 10, he made it exciting once again. In the end, the PWA World Cup winner from Pozo 2019 lacked a better wave score to defend his podium position.
At this point, Brawzinho already had five high-class heats under his belt. But he showed no signs of fatigue in his duel with Victor Fernandez for a place in the final against single winner Philip Köster. On the contrary, he didn't give the six-time Pozo winner Fernandez the slightest chance. The latter was unable to find his flow throughout the entire heat - neither when jumping nor when riding the waves. With a lead of more than six points, Browne finally made it to the final against Philip Köster, which many expected. However, Victor Fernandez can still look forward to an extra 2500 euros in his coffers. That's because he posted the highest jump at the PWA World Cup with 8.9 metres and secured the "Red Bull Rockets" prize money.
Only Köster stops Browne's race to catch up in the final
In the late afternoon, Philip Köster's wait for the last day of the PWA World Cup in Pozo was finally over. Rested, but not particularly warmed up, he took to the water. And he immediately showed that he doesn't need a warm-up phase at his home spot. A perfect table top double and a huge stalled double both earned him 8.88 points on the scoresheet. With a wave of 6, he quickly built up a lead over Browne. He, on the other hand, didn't look tired, but wasn't quite fresh in his seventh heat of the day. However, he did manage to improve his score with his last wave, but by then Köster had already cemented his seventh Pozo victory with a 9.25-point push forward.
Both finalists were delighted. Browne in particular was more than satisfied after his comeback, as his second place in Pozo puts him in an excellent starting position for the wave title in the PWA World Cup. Thanks to his second place in the first Cup in Cape Verde, he now has a massive lead in the overall standings with 17,000 points over Thomas Traversa with 1,3255 points. Cape Verde winner Bernd Roediger was not at the start in Pozo. He is followed by Victor Fernandez with 13140 points. Philip Köster (11968 points) made a huge leap from 25th to fourth place with his victory. The next Wave World Cup will take place at the end of September on Sylt. Whether there will be another PWA World Cup in the waves of Tenerife after that has not yet been decided. Köster's victory means that he still has a chance of winning his sixth PWA Wave title, but is dependent on the competition slipping up.
The women's Pozo ranking is also the ranking for the year, as the PWA World Cup in Gran Canaria was the first contest of the year for them. Daida Moreno therefore leads ahead of her sister Iballa, Sarah-Quita Offringa and Lina Erpenstein.
You can of course read a detailed insider report from the PWA World Cup in Pozo in the September issue of surf Magazine. All results and heat rankings can be found on the PWA website .
Andreas Erbe
Chief editor surf