The fifth day of the PWA World Cup in Tenerife saw another action-packed day, with El Cabezo arguably offering the best conditions of the event so far: more than enough wind for jumping and, especially when the tide came in, some nice sections for cracking cutbacks.
Liam Dunkerbeck indomitable
Having already finished fourth in the men's single elimination this week, Liam Dunkerbeck now made his mark on the U21 category with a clear victory. The 20-year-old, who had also won the opening event of the U21s on Gran Canaria, seemed unstoppable. He outclassed his opponents with jumps and wave rides - once again landing textbook double forwards and one-footed backloops, while utilising his surfing knowledge to shine on the wave too. Dunkerbeck will be incredibly hard to stop after this performance. It seems as if he has made another significant leap forward in Tenerife.
His closest rival was, unsurprisingly, Japan's Hayata Ishii, who finished seventh in the main field. However, it wasn't quite that easy after all, as only half a point separated Ishii, Tobias Bjørnaa and Anton Richter in the four-man final. In the end, Ishii was able to secure second place, as he received the highest score for a single wave with a wicked frontside 360 from a critical section and defeated Bjørnaa in the tiebreaker. Bjørnaa rode great throughout, consistently scoring the maximum allowed for a stalled forward with 5.5 points, while also looking very dynamic on the wave.
Anton Richter from Germany, who reached the final half a point ahead of Lennart Neubauer, narrowly missed out on the podium in the final and is therefore in fourth place. Neubauer is currently sharing fifth place with his compatriot Gregory Stathopoulos. Lennart couldn't quite land the double forward he needed to progress in the semi-final, while Stathopoulos surfed solidly until the semi-final, but then didn't have his best run.
Sol Degrieck takes her second win this week
Sol Degrieck cemented her place at the top of the current U18 girls' rankings after claiming her second win of the week. The 14-year-old once again impressed with jumps and wave rides in a different dimension, while the other results remained unchanged: Lizzlotte Schilling secured second place ahead of Annagiulia Piccaglia, who unfortunately injured her knee when landing a forward loop, and eleven-year-old Trine Gobisch from Germany.
Double elimination for men and women already underway
By the end of the day, the first three rounds of the men's double elimination were also almost over and Henri Kolberg, Jules Denel and Josep Pons started to make the best comebacks as they each won their first three heats today and qualified for the fourth round.
The first heat of the day will be Heat 39, in which the current World Tour leader Marino Gil, Moritz Mauch, who achieved the highest wave score of the day with 7.38 points, Simon Thule and Antoine Albert will clash.
The first round of the women's double elimination was also completed and Sol Degrieck and local Maria Morales were by far the standout riders. Both were able to celebrate a serious comeback. Morales scored the highest score of the day in Heat 39 with 16.74 points. With an excellent stalled forward and aggressive wave riding, she deservedly won the heat ahead of Elena Dominick, who also progressed to the next round in second place.
Degrieck, on the other hand, also won confidently with a combination of beautiful front loops and excellent wave riding. The 14-year-old even slipped through a taka at the end of the heat, but didn't quite manage to stay on the wave. The young Belgian is joined in the next round by Line Bang Wittrup, Sybille Bode, Caroline Weber, Blanca Alabau and Sarah Jackson.
It continues today. Hopefully the wind will last long enough to complete the second half of the season.