The youngsters' day at the schauinsland-reisen Windsurf World Cup presented by got2be on Sylt: Lennart Neubauer reached a freestyle final for the first time in his young career and then went on to win against former champion Steven van Broekhoven. "I've been dreaming of this for so long - it's incredible that it happened today at the biggest surfing event in the world. Everything just fell into place. I've never felt as good as I did on the water today," said an overwhelmed Neubauer afterwards.
In addition to the German-Greek, Takumi Moriya from Japan also provided some memorable heats. Only 17 years old and largely unknown in Europe, he knocked out Antony Ruenes in the second round, who still had hopes of winning the world title. A short time later, he lost to the eventual finalist Steven van Broeckhoven.
Balz Müller - who performed his new move Table Top Backloop with the final siren - had just as little chance as Moriya and finally Adrien Bosson. The Belgian himself could hardly believe that he had made it to the final, where he once again rode strongly. However, he too had no chance against a Lennart Neubauer who drove like he was unleashed, with Neubauer scoring the highest points of the day in the final. "Today was a turning point in my career. I now know that I can keep up with the big boys," said Lennart.
World Cup candidates Ruenes and Caers are eliminated early
But the 2023 World Championship race will most likely be decided by others. Fuerte winner and 2019 world champion Yentel Caers had to bury his dream of a second title in the sand of Westerland for the time being. He lost his first-round heat against Lennart Neubauer by a wafer-thin margin of 0.2 points and now faces a long journey through double elimination. At least he was able to take the first step towards a comeback there late in the afternoon and progressed to the next round. Antony Ruenes also wants to do the same, but he was unable to start his comeback.
Niclas Nebelung, the only German freestyle starter, wanted to do the same. After losing to Dutch rider Bodhi Kempen in the first round, he was quickly eliminated in the double against Dieter van der Eyken. "I took a bit of a risk and didn't perform my moves cleanly, which resulted in deductions," he tried to explain his early exit.
Adrien Bosson with one hand on the World Championship title
Adrien Bosson, who won his first title last year on Sylt, now has the best chance of winning the World Championship. The Frenchman naturally benefited from the early elimination of his direct opponents and was on the verge of being knocked out himself against Sam Esteve. However, after losing to Steven van Broeckhoven in the semi-final, Bosson went on to take third place. The small final against Jacopo Testa was again very close.
So there was plenty of excitement in the World Cup race, and with Lennart Neubauer's victory, the World Cup on Sylt once again wrote a great sporting story. With plenty of sunshine and an afternoon with stable sideshore winds, the conditions were once again picture-book for spectators and riders on Brandenburg beach. North of the contest zone for the freestylers, there were some decent waves in which many wave pros warmed up. Tomorrow could also be the day for the wave riders. Up to 30 knots of wind have been forecast, so everyone is hoping that it won't come too far south and that the waves will be sufficient. It all starts at 7.00 am with the skippers meeting!
The best pictures of the Wave playground on Sylt
Results Freestyle Single Elimination
- 1. Lennart Neubauer
- 2 Steven van Broeckhoven
- 3rd Adrien Bosson
- 4th Jacopo Testa
- 5th Takumi Moriya
- 5th Sam Esteve
- 5 Antoine Albert
- 5 Youp Schmit
- 9th Bodhi Kempen
- 9th Yentel Caers
- 9 Rasmus Oegelund
- 9 Balz Müller
- 9th Amado Vrieswijk
- 9 Dieter van der Eyken
- 9th Antony Ruenes
- 9 Nicolas Akgaziyan
