El Cabezo offered really fun conditions on the fourth day of the PWA World Cup on Tenerife, allowing the men's single elimination to take place in waves up to head-high and 20-25 knots of wind. The best wave windsurfers in the world showed what is possible in such conditions and that you shouldn't be afraid to use bigger wave equipment to get the most out of the given conditions. After the end of the men's single elimination, the masters fleet took to the water for the first time this week, where 46-year-old PWA commentator Ben Proffitt followed up his result in Pozo Izquierdo with a win.
Impressive comeback after a nasty injury
Marc Paré broke his foot during training on Maui at the start of the year - this ruined his ambitions of winning the world title for another year. However, he was able to make up for the huge disappointment yesterday by putting in a masterful performance and winning the single elimination ahead of Julian Salmonn, Victor Fernandez and Liam Dunkerbeck. The Spaniard delivered almost perfect double forwards in the semi-final and final, his wave rides were also flawless and he is now on the verge of his first World Tour victory. What a great and quick comeback after such a nasty injury (Lisfranc fracture).
Second place for Julian Salmonn, Victor Fernandez in third place with plenty of flow
El Cabezo is the home of Salmonn, and the 26-year-old looked like the man to beat throughout the single elimination as he showed his typical stylish wave riding, including many manoeuvres such as air takas. In the final, the German was only 1.66 points behind Paré. But after his first podium in Pozo, he is now assured of another podium finish here in Tenerife, no matter what happens.
Victor Fernandez may be forty now, but he shows no signs of slowing down as he continues to keep up with the new generation in the wave. Fernandez showed his usual effortless flow on the wave, landing high, one-footed backloops to secure the final spot on the podium in the single elimination.
Liam Dunkerbecks reaches his first men's final in the World Cup
Liam Dunkerbeck qualified for his first final on the World Tour in yesterday's single elimination, with the young Spaniard doing plenty of damage with his double forwards, which included an 8.10-point double in the final, but he couldn't quite find the wave scores to challenge for the win in the final, while missing out on the podium by just 0.02 points.
Closely followed by Campello and Van der Eyken
Dieter van der Eyken, who achieved his best result on the PWA Wave World Tour to date with fourth place in Gran Canaria, used his local knowledge to secure fifth place in the single elimination together with Ricardo Campello. The Belgian injured himself shortly after the event in Pozo, but recovered brilliantly in time for his home event.
Hayata Ishii and Miguel Chapuis impressed in the single elimination and both made it through to the semi-finals, where they finished in seventh place.
The top ten is currently completed by Mike Friedl, who had his best day on the World Tour so far, the current Tour leader Marino Gil, who was stopped from reaching the semi-finals by Dunkerbeck in the final seconds, 18-year-old Tobias Bjørnaa, who also had his best day so far, and Takuma Sugi.
