World Cup Pozo: Marcilio Browne and Daida Moreno win the double elimination

Last day at the World Cup in Pozo, last chance to finish the men's and women's double eliminations. The wind is there as usual, not the typical Pozo overhack, but light enough. What's missing are the waves. Towards the evening, the forecast promised a swell, and everyone hoped that it would arrive a little earlier. After a few postponements, it actually started around midday, with two jumps and one wave counting towards the score.

The conditions were not easy: good take-off ramps were rare, suitable waves for optimal wave riding even rarer. Especially as the judges had previously indicated that they rated frontside turns higher than backside rides, takas and the like, which can also be done in white water. The motto in many heats was therefore to show the jumps first and then hope for good waves. "Showing a few stylish moves on a good wave is not that difficult," analysed commentator Ben Proffitt. "The problem today is finding a wave like that in the first place."

Reminder: The single elimination last Saturday had outstanding conditions with up to 50 knots and super waves The first round of the double elimination had already taken place on Sunday. Moritz Mauch had to go first, winning against Hayata Ishii and Antoine Albert with excellent wave rides and the highest score of the day so far. Julian Salmonn was defeated by Poland's Adam Warchol, and Moritz Mauch had to retire one round later against Josep Pons.

Philip Köster starts a furious race to catch up

Philip Köster, forced into action after his early elimination in the single elimination, first had to deal with Jake Schettewi. No sign of restrictions due to his foot injury, very good jumps and with 8 points the best wave score of the day so far. Köster also took an early lead against Robby Swift with a very good double forward and did not relinquish it until the end. Next up was none other than Victor Fernandez. However, the Spaniard gave the impression that he was not in form; although he rode solidly, he had no chance against Köster.

The far more exciting heat ran in parallel: Antoine Martin took the highest jump score of the day (9.38) with a stalled double right at the start and led for a long time against Alessio Stillrich. The local also showed outstanding jumps, but was unable to catch up with Martin in the wave classification. It was only shortly before the end that he scored 5.5 points and was therefore exactly level on points. In this case, it was the better wave that counted, which took Stillrich through to the next round, where Köster was waiting.

The five-time world champion left nothing to chance here either, taking the highest heat score of the day with 22 points and putting an end to Alessio Stillrich's race to catch up. There was then a German-German duel against Leon Jamaer in the next heat. Jamaer had beaten Adam Warchol and - at the last moment of the heat - Josep Pons, but Köster was the last man standing. As usual, Köster had a very good jump right at the start, Leon had the better wave score for a long time. But shortly before the end, Philip conjured up a wave of six and narrowly progressed to the next round.

The final duel between Gil and Browne is repeated

But against Marc Paré, Köster was unable to get into the light-footed flow that had carried him five heats to this point. His injured foot may also have been hurting again, but he was unable to put up much of a fight against the fresh-faced Paré. In the end, fifth place for him after an impressive fightback. Paré then progressed against Ricardo Campello and went into the heat for second place against Marino Gil Gherardi. It was spectacular there: the two good friends performed almost identical double loops on the same wave, followed shortly afterwards by two synchronised backloops - and that in the first run of the heat! Marino only learnt the double loop in May of this year and threw Paré out to the loud cheers of his fans on the beach.

Marino Gil, the 20-year-old Pozo local, therefore faced his Goya colleague Marcilio Browne again after the single elimination final. Brawzinho showed two almost perfect jumps on the first run and looked like a sure winner for most of the heat. But two minutes before the end, Marino Gil caught an ideal wave for a 360 and a front loop off the lip. On the way out, he then went one better with a double loop and overtook Brawzinho by a wafer-thin margin.

So it was off to the super final, Browne spent the break on the beach lost in thought. Could he turn things around or would the momentum be with Marino Gil, who had already been celebrated frenetically in Pozo? While Brawzinho opened the heat with his usual solid jumps, Gil initially achieved almost nothing. It was only in the second half of the 14-minute heat that he slowly got into his stride and closed the gap on Brawzinho in the jumping rankings, but was unable to find any good waves. The winner of Pozo was Marcilio Browne for the first time!

Lina Erpenstein works her way up to third place

The women also started their double elimination in the course of the afternoon. In contrast to the men, they had better conditions today than in the singles on Sunday, reported Lina Erpenstein in the livestream. Alexia Kiefer-Quintana first knocked out Maria Behrens in her home spot and then won in the next round at the last minute against Maria Morales. Lina Erpenstein, who was only tied fifth after the single elimination, faced Coco Foveau, third at the World Cup in Fiji, in her first heat. But Foveau hit her head on her mast during a front loop, she couldn't remember the rest of her heat and had to be stitched up in hospital.

In the next round, Lina Erpenstein then had to face 13-year-old Sol Degrieck, who she had beaten in the singles last year. This time, however, she gave the young Belgian no chance. In the parallel heat, Alexia Kiefer won confidently against Isabel Trivino Delgado, a duel that had already taken place several times in the junior heats. Alexia's not-so-secret weapon is her backloop, which brought her the points she needed in many heats today.

But the next heat was over against Lina Erpenstein. Alexia lacked a good wave at the end, which Lina Erpenstein was able to tick off the scoresheet right at the start. Lina in turn also won against Justyna Sniady in the next round and would then have faced Iballa Moreno. However, Iballa was unable to compete due to a knee injury, meaning that Lina was guaranteed at least third place. Against Sarah-Quita Offringa, it looked for a long time as if the windsurfing queen could easily take home her second place, but shortly before the end of the heat, Lina made it exciting once again with a very good wave. With backloops equal on points, the wafer-thin frontloop score was the deciding factor in favour of Sarah-Quita, so Lina Erpenstein finished the event in third place.

Mast break and comeback for Daida Moreno

The women's final between Sarah-Quita and Daida Moreno was hard to beat in terms of tension and drama. The wind had become increasingly changeable in the meantime, gusts with a slight northerly breeze made the conditions even more difficult. In the first run, Daida jumped a backloop and her mast broke for no apparent reason. After a long swim, she continued with replacement equipment, while Offringa confidently collected her points.

The heat was actually over, the victory for Sarah-Quita and thus the path to the super final seemed clear. But Daida fought her way back to within one point and caught the best wave of the day shortly before the end of the heat: with a mega 360 and radical turns, she scored 8.75 points and turned the heat around. In the end, she even went for a double loop after directing the livestream drone to the best jump ramp. What a heat, what a comeback!

Results Double Elimination Pozo

Gents

• 1 Marcilio Browne
• 2. Marino Gil Gherardi
• 3 Marc Paré
• 4 Ricardo Campello
• 5 Philip Köster
• 6th Leon Jamaer
• 7th Alessio Stillrich
• 7th Josep Pons
• 9. Victor Fernandez
• 9th Antoine Martin
• 9th Adam Warchol
• 9 Jules Denel

Ladies

• 1 Daida Moreno
• 2. Sarah-Quita Offringa
• 3rd Lina Erpenstein
• 4th Iballa Moreno
• 5 Justyna Sniady
• 6th Alexia Kiefer Quintana
• 7 Sol Degrieck
• 7 Isabel Trivino Delgado
• 9 Lisa Wermeister
• 9th Maria Morales
• 9th Coraline Foveau
• 9 Pauline Katz

Also interesting:

• World Cup Pozo: Liam Dunkerbeck also wins the double elimination
• World Cup Pozo: Dunkerbeck wins U20, Proffitt best Master
• World Cup Pozo: Junior victories for Alexia Kiefer, Carlos Kiefer and Sol Degrieck
• World Cup Pozo: Prien takes first victory, Marotti and Alabau win
• Marotti and Alabau maintain overall lead in the slalom, Jordy Vonk wins elimination on the Finne
• Finn vs Foil in slalom, Marotti leads, Prien in top form
• World Cup Pozo: Daida Moreno wins the single, Erpenstein in 5th place
• World Cup Pozo: Magnificent opening day, Marcilio Browne wins single elimination ahead of Marino Gil
• World Cup Pozo: Prien takes first victory, Marotti and Alabau win