After the youngsters in the U13 and U15 categories ( HERE you can read the report) were able to show what they are capable of for the first time, the U20 competitions continued on the water today. Once again, the storm spot Pozo showed its gentle side. Although sail sizes between 4.0 and 4.5 were possible, this meant that away from the local reinforcements - a few kilometres off the coast - it was only lightly fanned. Accordingly, it was not surprising that the waves were rather meagre.
However, the young rippers were not initially put off by this - on the contrary: happy to finally be let off the chain, they showed some impressive action as the water rose. Anton Richter had to show off his skills in the very first heat - with clean backloops he booked his ticket to round 2 straight away, while Jahdan Tyger also impressed with a clean pushloop over a mini ramp.
The clash between Hayata Ishii and Lennart Neubauer turned out to be the best heat in round 1. Stalled forwards, back and push loops and backside 360s were on show every minute, with Lennard just coming out on top in the end. Liam Dunkerbeck also showed no weakness in his home game. The pozo local pulled off his programme with aplomb and repeatedly managed to make the conditions look better than they were. In the end, his repertoire of one-footed backloops, pushloops and delayed frontloops would take him all the way to the final. On the way there, he also defeated the German-Greek Neubauer in the semi-final, who showed in his heats that he has long been more than just a world-class freestyler: clean backloops, pushloops and backside 360s have long been standard for Neubauer too. Nevertheless, Dunkerbeck was still a size too big in the semi-final. In the final, he faced the young Dane Tobias Bjornaa ( HERE there's an interview), who beat German youngster Anton Richter in the semi-finals.
Liam Dunkerbeck was the best at making moderate conditions look good
The final between Dunkerbeck and Bjornaa would have deserved better conditions. At times, the riders searched for minutes for suitable ramps, but there was hardly anything more than "normal" backloops and wave rides with turns on round shoulders. Dunkerbeck even attempted a double forward shortly before the end, but he also lacked the height in this situation to make a clean turn. In the end, it was still enough for him and he took the win in his living room.
The results of the Youth U20 at the World Cup Pozo 2023
- Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP)
- Tobias Bjornaa (DEN)
- Lennart Neubauer (GRE)
- Anton Richter (GER)
Ben Proffitt best master
A Masters classification was on the programme for the first time this year. There were a number of riders who were among the regulars in the World Cup just a few years ago - Local Dario Ojeda, Albert Pijoan, Raimondo Gasperini and many more. PWA commentator Ben Proffitt was also able to escape from his press container and finally show that he can still do it himself. However, the masters also struggled with very poor conditions - sails of around 4.5 square metres were well powered, but waves were only found in homeopathic doses in the rocky bay. Ben Proffitt ultimately coped best with the challenging conditions. With a backloop, tweaked pushloop and a buzzer beater in the form of a wave 360, he took the win ahead of Dario Ojeda and Pijoan.
The World Cup Pozo 2023 runs until 9 July. Unfortunately, it currently seems unlikely that the women's and men's double elimination can be completed. Although there is expected to be wind in the next few days, the typical storm conditions with good waves are not forecast. Nevertheless, we are keeping our fingers crossed that Pozo will deliver like it did on the first weekend, when there were dream conditions with 50 knots of wind and logo-high waves.
Fingers crossed!
