World Cup Gran Canaria: Drama in the double elimination - Köster wins in Pozo!

It's no secret that jogging isn't exactly Philip Köster's favourite pastime. However, the few hundred metres that Köster had to run on Pozo beach on Sunday evening will remain a particularly bad memory for him. In the final, Köster had to eject from a high jump and his equipment flew a long way towards the bunker. Swimming, crawling and balancing over the stones, he only managed to catch it again on land. Instead of tackling the "walk of shame", Köster jogged towards his spare set to continue his heat. With four minutes left on the clock, he was back on the water - unfortunately too late to score enough points. But after his victory in the single elimination yesterday, it was on to the Super Final!

The day in Pozo started in a similar way to yesterday: the second day of the Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup was also bouncing with winds of more than 50 knots in places. "If the men are sailing on their smallest sails, it would be irresponsible to send the ladies out," said the judges. Sarah-Quita Offringa was certainly not sad to have to wait a little longer: "I was out this morning with 3.3, which was not rideable, and then the wind picked up again," she told the livestream. Everyone who was asked about the conditions in front of the PWA microphone said, shaking their heads, that they had never ridden in such conditions. "It's pure survival," said world champion Marcilio Browne. "I just try run after run to somehow stay on the board."

Brutal conditions in the double elimination

The men were struggling: when a Ricardo Campello or a Liam Dunkerbeck is simply swept away by a gust, you can imagine how brutal the conditions were. "Even going straight is incredibly difficult, not to mention clean manoeuvres," PWA commentator Ben Proffitt tried to describe the situation for the spectators. Triple weather then? Not quite, because the wind was a little more northerly than usual, so the angle was unusual and not ideal - in fact, even the likes of Victor Fernandez and Liam Dunkerbeck had problems showing off their normally confident double loops.

Nevertheless, a perfect setup for a Sunday livestream with the men's double elimination! Can anyone deny Philip Köster, yesterday's winner, victory? Will we see a fairytale comeback? In the first round of the double elimination, there were surprisingly a few names whose regular place is actually much further ahead: Ricardo Campello, Julian Salmonn, Dieter van der Eyken and Arthur Arutkin certainly had a score to settle after their early exit yesterday.

There are no words to describe how windy it is here! Carlos Kiefer Quintana

The first to cause a stir on the beach and on the screens was Lennart Neubauer. The freestyle world champion performed a perfect pushloop forward and proved his immense talent. What was still missing was the final fine-tuning in the wave, so it was over in round two. Veteran Dieter van der Eyken, on the other hand, put all his experience to good use, riding perfectly choreographed heats and working his way forwards four laps. He was only stopped when he destroyed his board during a mega-high front loop in the first few minutes of his heat. Arthur Arutkin also moved up four laps, although he should have been in bed with the flu. Pozo-Local Mike Friedl got a little further, pushed so hard by his mates Liam Dunkerbeck and Marino Gil Gheradi that he rode up to 11th place!

Spectacular race to catch up by Ricardo Campello

In general, the fourth round, in which the best of the double elimination met the bigger names from the single for the first time, was a big sorting out. This also affected Julian Salmonn, who sensationally reached the final in Pozo last year. After winning four heats, he was beaten by Ricardo Campello. He, in turn, was on the verge of writing a real sporting fairytale: In the late autumn of his career, without sponsors, only at the start thanks to a wild card and out in round one yesterday - then today a march through in impressive form: Ricardo was calm and collected in most of his heats, scored all the important points and didn't let the odd slow start or crash upset him. With a NeilPryde sail from last year (with the Martin Garrix logo) and a larger board (the rocker line of his small board had probably bent after countless landings), he worked his way forwards lap after lap.

Campello was at the end of his tether in the heat for sixth place against local Liam Dunkerbeck; he already had seven heats under his belt. Even an almost perfect pushloop forward at the end of the heat was not enough against Liam, who was able to score points with impressive wave scores in particular - at times it was as if he was dancing in the waves, always frenetically cheered on by his father Björn. The Simmer man was a little fresher and was not only able to collect the decisive points with the slightly better waves, but also with a better double loop. In addition to wave selection, strength and endurance were also crucial in the nuclear conditions: at times, even clean bottom turns were almost impossible, and time and again you could see how the sail was simply ripped out of the riders' back hands, the gusts were so strong. "This is not a normal fifth place, this is something very special!" said Liam after his heat, the conditions were so extraordinary.

After four-man heats in the first laps, the top four were now always man against man. As predicted by the commentators, none of the exhausted riders from the double could pose a threat to yesterday's top four. And there was also a clear pecking order: Marc Paré looked like the winner for a long time against Marino Gil Gherardi after a perfect double loop, but in the end last year's winner was able to turn the tables. "I'm happy, but of course I would have liked to have climbed a little further forward," said Paré. World champion Marcilio Browne then took out all the top jumps early on in the next heat, while Marino was ahead in the wave classification. After a ten-point pushloop forward, Gil was back within striking distance, and with one of today's rare stalled doubles he could have taken the win in the final seconds, but couldn't find a ramp.

The drama in the final

So Browne was once again in the final against Philip Köster, who led the way with a very good pushloop forward. But then came the drama surrounding the run unit: Köster lost his equipment in the air, which then drifted ownerless towards the bunker. As we all know, caddy support is not allowed, so Philip had to cross the stones on land and then put in the aforementioned running unit. With new equipment, he managed a good wave in the remaining four minutes, but Brawzinho had collected enough points in the meantime and was the sure winner.

The Super Final was the grand finale to a memorable weekend. Can Browne continue his incredible run? Or will Köster retain supremacy at his home spot? His team had some hard work to do during the break: cheering Köster up, getting him back on track and getting the jog out of his head. Köster was on fire, banging out another perfect pushloop forward right at the start of the heat, followed it up with a glided front loop and then took another solid wave. Brown, on the other hand, showed nerves and crashed his first attempt. He only got back into the rhythm in the second half and produced one of the best double loops of the day. But as Köster also set off one firework after another on the wave and strung together goiters, 360s, takas and radical turns in his incredibly light-footed style, there was no denying him victory at his home spot!

"Every win is special, but of course success at home, with my family standing on the beach supporting me, is even more extraordinary. When I look into the eyes of my children and my wife before I go out on the water, it gives me an extra kick. Maybe that's what made the difference in the end. The level on the water was incredibly high this time. I take my hat off to my competitors, who have really made it difficult for me over the past two days. And although this is my eighth success here on Gran Canaria, I have to say: it always feels good. I want more of this," said a happy Köster with a smile.

The highlights of the day in the video

Results Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup Pozo 2025

Waveriding men

• 1 Philip Köster
• 2 Marcilio Browne
• 3. Marino Gil Gherardi
• 4 Marc Paré
• 5 Liam Dunkerbeck
• 6 Ricardo Campello
• 7 Victor Fernandez
• 8th Alessio Stillrich
• 9 Miguel Chapuis
• 9th Moritz Mauch
• 11 Antoine Martin
• 11 Mike Friedl