PWA World Cup Tenerife 2025: Difficult start in the wave - German trio continue

On the fifth day of the Playa Surf CBbC Hotel Tenerife El Médano Windsurf Grand Slam 2025, the waveriders took centre stage for the first time. After several days of Slalom X, the first round of the single elimination was started despite challenging light wind conditions. The best two waves and the best jump were ranked in 16-minute heats, with repeated interruptions because the conditions were not suitable for competition.

Adam Warchol put down a clear marker in the fifth heat. With a total of 18.47 points, the Pole achieved the highest score of the day. His wave performance was particularly impressive with 7 points - the joint highest individual score for a wave - as well as his backloop, which received the third-best jump score of the day with 5.73 points. Warchol thus confidently qualified for the next round. In the same heat, Jochen Stolz utilised his spot knowledge as a local and also reached the next round with the third-best score of the day.

Laurin Schmuth, Henri Kolberg and Anton Richter progress

Arthur Arutkin opened the day in the first heat and secured the second-best score of the day with 16.64 points. The Frenchman impressed above all with two strong wave scores and thus clearly came out on top. Laurin Schmuth also made it through to the second round, narrowly beating Simon Thule and Finn Mellon.

Moritz Mauch was one of the most striking riders in the wave with his vertical, dynamic riding style. The 29-year-old also scored 7 points for a wave ride and thus shared the best performance of the day with Warchol. Mauch won Heat 6 ahead of Henri Kolberg, who relegated Lucas Meldrum to third place with an almost gliding backloop and thus also qualified for the next round.

In the second heat, Anton Richter prevailed in a close duel. The young German won ahead of Tim van Dam Sanchidrian, who relegated Baptiste Cloarec to third place with a lead of just 0.13 points. The decisive factor here was van Dam Sanchidrian's first wave ride with 6.66 points, which tipped the scales - despite an impressive no-handed backloop from Cloarec.

Further qualifiers for the Top 32

Mike Friedl, who achieved his first top ten result in Gran Canaria last month, qualified safely for the next round in the third heat. The Austrian landed the highest scoring jump of the day with 5.87 points - a backloop. Hayata Ishii secured the second qualifying place in this heat, while Marlon Maethner was eliminated in fourth place.

In the remaining heats of the first round, Alessio Stillrich prevailed in the fourth heat against the young local Walter Costanzo, who also progressed. Just 17-year-old Ryu Noguchi and 20-year-old Esteban de Cruz were among the youngest athletes to make it into the top 32. In the eighth heat, Jules Denel left nothing to chance and won confidently against the reigning Masters World Champion Mike Friedl senior, while Nick Spangenberg was eliminated.

The first round of the women's race was then started, but was cancelled in the first heat. The weather forecast for the next day does not look ideal on paper, with 10-16 knots predicted. However, some locals are cautiously optimistic that it could still go ahead. Then the top seeded riders such as Philip Köster, Marcilio Browne, Marc Paré and Liam Dunkerbeck will also get into the action!