WKC Cumbuco - Elite Championship - Day One
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We were welcomed once again with perfect conditions in Cumbuco, Brazil for Day One of the Elite Championship. The Men’s Qualifier Championship was first in sequence as the final heat still needed to be completed, followed by Rounds 1 and 2 of the Men’s Elite Championship.
Men’s Qualifier Championship Final
There were four contenders for this impressive Men’s Final, that commenced at 9.30 am at the beautiful spot of Duro Beach. Louka Pitot from France had another fantastic start, showing the same clean precision he had performed with on previous days. He landed a great KGB 5, Backside 315 and a 317. Juan Rodriguez from Colombia has truly made a name for himself during this Qualifier Championship event, and opened with a powerful Double Hinterberger Mobe 5. Local rider Erick Anderson rode with style and power, clearly familiar and comfortable with the conditions at his home spot. He performed a spectacular Slim 7 scoring 8.3 points. Alex Neto from Brazil struggled for the start of his heat but gradually built up his scores as the heat progressed. It was a spectacular final that all came down to the last two trick attempts. The final Qualifier results are:
1 – Erick Anderson
2 – Juan Rodriguez
3 – Louka Pitot
4 – Alex Neto
Elite Men’s Round 1
The Men were first in sequence, and each heat of Round 1 had 3 competitors, where the 1st advanced to Round 3, and 2nd and 3rd get a second chance in Round 2. Each athlete had 6 trick attempts, with their top 4 scores counting.
Heat 1
The Elite Championship commenced at 11.15 am. Austrian athlete Stefan Spiessberger opened with a nice Crowmobe 5, a unique choice for an opening trick. Gianmaria Coccoluto was riding confidently and completed the heat with a good stack of scores. He passed through directly to Round 3. Jonas Ouahmid from Morocco and Spiessberger passed through to the 2nd round.
Heat 2
Set Teixeira was firing through Heat 2 landing trick after trick. He racked up plenty of solid scores, and locked down the position directly to Round 3. Julien Krikken from France and Joselito del Rosario from the Dominican Republic pass through to Round 2.
Heat 3
Valentin Rodriguez, the young 16 year old from Colombia, started with a bang, scoring 8.27 for his opening Backide 317, setting the bar high from the start. Local athlete Kalu de Sousa once again performed consistently, with only one crashed trick attempt. He cleared his way directly through to Round 3, with Rodriguez and Guillebert getting a second chance in Round 2.
Heat 4
Former World Champion Liam Whaley is back in action, and we are delighted to see him recovered from his injury and back to competitive freestyle. He had a rough start to heat 4, with two crashes, but he was not about to let that get to him. He made an incredible recovery with a powered Backside 317 and an outstanding Front Blind Mobe. Just as it looked like he was going to cruise his way to Round 3, Alex Neto landed an insane KGB 7 scoring a perfect 10, sending the crowds on the beach into a frenzy. What an incredible moment for Neto, as he locked down his spot in Round 3. Whaley and Rodriguez pass through to Round 2.
Heat 5
Heat 5 was an extremely close call between Luis Alberto Cruz from the Dominican Republic and Val Garat from France. Val Garat needed to go for a good score on his last attempt, but his Backside 317 scored 7 points, just a fraction from what he needed. Cruz advanced to Round 3, with Garat and Giuliano passing to Round 2.
Heat 6
Adeuri Corniel was a man on a mission today. He landed an insane 319 for his second attempt, scoring 9.17 points and putting him in the lead. Despite several crashes, his scores were high and he took the spot directly in Round 3. Anthar Racca was very close to catching him, but crashed his last attempt and will get a second chance in Round 2 together with Edgar Ulrich from France.
Heat 7
Louka Pitot and Maxime Chabloz were neck and neck for Heat 7, with Chabloz just snatching the lead from Pitot on the penultimate trick attempt. Jerome Cloetens from Spain was close behind, but couldn’t quite catch up to his fellow competitors. Pitot and Cloetens advance to Round 2.
Heat 8
What an incredible effort we witnessed from local rider Erick Anderson as he came up against our current World Champion Carlos Mario for Heat 8. Both Mario and Anderson performed some incredible tricks, with an outstanding Heart Attack 7 scoring 9.37 for Mario. The current World Champion advanced to Round 3, with Anderson and Serin passing to Round 2.
Men’s Round 2
At 2.30 pm the action continued with Men’s Round 2, where each heat had 4 competitors, and only two advanced to the next Round.
Heat 9
Anthar Racca rode a superb heat against Garat, Del Rosario and Ouahmid. He performed a well calculated heat, with tricks including a Backside 317 and Slim 7. Val Garat pushed hard to catch up to him but settled for 2nd place. Garat and Racca advanced to Round 3, with Ouahmid and Del Rosario sadly missing out.
Heat 10
Erick Anderson progressed through Heat 10, even as the conditions deteriorated he landed a good combination of tricks. He maintained a good lead for the duration of the heat, and advanced into Round 3. It was a battle for the second spot between Louka Pitot and Arthur Guillebert, who both fought hard for the opportunity to advance. The heat was abandoned after the 5th round of tricks due to the wind dropping, and will be resumed early tomorrow morning.