PWA World Cup Tenerife 2025: Kiefer and Degrieck win in the juniors, double elimination enters the home straight

The eighth day of the Playa Surf CBbC Hotel Tenerife El Médano Windsurf Grand Slam turned out to be the most intense competition day of the event so far. From 10:00 to 19:30 local time there was action on the water, the conditions in El Cabezo were excellent at times with metre-high waves.

Alexia Kiefer Quintana and Sol Degrieck are almost unbeatable in the juniors

Alexia Kiefer Quintana came out on top in the U21 girls' category - unsurprisingly, after she Sarah-Quita Offringa in the Pro Women's final the day before who had put up a strong challenge. As in Gran Canaria, Quintana secured victory ahead of Maria Morales, who took second place at her home spot. Lisa Wermeister and Helena Lale completed the final in third and fourth place.

Sol Degrieck was similarly dominant in the U18 girls' class. The Belgian, who came third in yesterday's women's single elimination final, put in an outstanding performance with two waves in the excellent scoring range and a successful forward loop. With this convincing performance, she relegated Trine Gobisch, Lizzlotte Schilling Andrew and Natsuki Wakasa to second place.

Peter and Anton Gobisch on the podium

Javier Escribano made short work of the U18 boys' category this time. After having to take the diversions via the double elimination in Gran Canaria, the 16-year-old Spaniard secured victory straight away this time. Escribano got off to a strong start by quickly landing an excellent pushloop, which allowed him to concentrate on the wave classification for the rest of the heat. Peter Gobisch finished second ahead of Ryoma Sugi and Bjørn Olesen, who had finished third in Gran Canaria.

Vasily Zakharko came out on top in the U15 boys' category with a superior wave performance. Ramon Barutell dominated in the air, but was unable to achieve a second wave score, which he would have needed to win. Nevertheless, he secured second place ahead of Anton Gobisch and Daniel Dunkerbeck, the youngest member of the Dunkerbeck dynasty.

Lina Erpenstein makes a successful comeback

As the conditions improved, it was time for the double elimination of the pros. After their surprising elimination in the Quarter-final of the previous day - also due to a broken mast - the defending champion Lina Erpenstein successfully started her race to catch up. Following her serious foot injury in Chile at the beginning of the year, Lina won both of her heats yesterday. This competition practice should be particularly valuable for Erpenstein to get back into full rhythm.

Maria Behrens qualified for the next round in the same heat, managing a decent forward loop and two solid wave scores, which was enough for her heat. Prior to that, she had already taken first place in an all-German heat ahead of Sybille Bode, Maike Lang and Nadia Jablonski. Bode then had to retire in the second round, where Cori McFarlane and Milanka Linde won. Cori McFarlane impressed with powerful manoeuvres on the waves, including a turn in which she took the fins completely out of the water while still maintaining control, which earned her 5.75 points.

Wave of the day and close decisions in the men's event

In the men's event, Dieter van der Eyken caught the wave of the day. The Belgian achieved the first excellent wave score of the event with an impressive combination of a powerful first turn and a perfectly executed frontside 360. Van der Eyken, who had already performed dynamically in the single elimination, continued his strong form and qualified for the fifth round of the double elimination.

Moritz Mauch also made it through to the next round, although he admitted that he didn't feel quite as dynamic with the larger material. Nevertheless, the German showed an excellent variety of turns. Mauch and van der Eyken thus put an end to Arthur Arutkin and Jules Denel, who had both fought their way through several heats from the first round onwards. Henri Kolberg and Laurin Schmuth both made it through to the second round, but were both eliminated by relatively narrow margins. Nick Spangenberg, Anton Richter and Marlon Maethner were eliminated in round one.

Salmonn and Stillrich continue in the last heat of the day

Heat 41 was not completed until late in the evening after it had to be cancelled due to a drop in the wind. The conditions were extremely difficult as the water level was extremely low at low tide - the risk of losing the fins to the rocks was ever-present. Local Julian Salmonn secured a narrow victory ahead of Alessio Stillrich, while the comebacks of Baptiste Cloarec and Hayata Ishii came to an end here. Ishii had earlier scored the second highest wave score of the day after landing one of the best frontside 360s of the day. His compatriot Takuma Sugi had less luck in Heat 37 - he was eliminated despite being tied on points with Cloarec, as the Frenchman had the higher individual wave score of 5.12 points.

The forecast for Saturday has improved as the north-easterly trade winds could continue - whereas previous forecasts from WindGuru indicated southerly winds. With any luck we'll see either more wave action or slalom racing as today is the last day of the Slalom X competition period.