World Kiteboarding Championships, Dakhla – Qualifier Championship – Finals
Mon 5th Nov, 2018 @ 3:45 pm
Dakhla once again delivered the goods for Day Three of the Qualifier event. The wind blew a steady 20 knots, allowing the completion of all the Qualifier Championship finals in optimal conditions
Women’s Finals
The ladies were on fire for the start of the female finals, fully powered up and ready to go. Francesca Bagnoli performed an outstanding Heart Attack scoring 9.17 points. She rode a fantastic heat landing trick after trick with power and style. Rita Arnaus from Spain kept up to her rhythm, landing a clean set of tricks including a Backside 313 and Back to Blind. Therese Taabbel, Danish Champion, had a difficult start crashing her first two trick attempts, but she recuperated landing a great S-bend to Blind, followed by a Back to Blind. Pippa Van Iersel, the young rider from the Netherlands, went for several good, powerful tricks, but struggled to land and crashed various attempts. She made up for it with an impressive Heart Attack on her 6th trick attempt, but it wasn’t enough to climb further up the ladder. It was a thrilling final from all 4 participants, showing outstanding level and talent for the Qualifier Championship Final.
Qualifier Championship Women’s Final Results
1st Francesca Bagnoli
2nd Therese Taabbel
3rd Rita Arnaus
4th Pippa van Iersel
5th Claudia Leon
6th Osaia Reding
7th Kristina Belogorskaya
Men’s Small Final
Nicolas Delmas was missing from the small final due to an injury, so that left french riders Louka Pitot, Arthur Guillebert and Spanish/Belgian rider Jerome Cloetens to battle it out on the water. All three athletes chose to open with a Front Blind Mobe, with Guillebert scoring most with a little more height and power than the others. They continued to pull continuous tricks, each one performing outstandingly well with clean execution and plenty of power. Cloetens landed every trick attempt and cleared the heat in 1st place. Arthur Guillebert followed in 2nd and Louka Pitot in third.
Men’s Final
Each finalist had their eye on a podium finish for this Qualifier Men’s Final. Kalu de Sousa has been performing well throughout this event but struggled to really get things going during this final. He landed a good Backside 315 but failed to perform as he had done in previous heats. Paul Serin landed a good Double Heart Attack for his last attempt, but it wasn’t enough to place him above 3rd position. French rider Val Garat took advantage of the situation, and after a slow start, he landed a KGB5 and Slim7 for his last two events, placing him in 2nd. The win for the Qualifier Championship went to Gianmaria Coccoluto, a much-deserved result for this consistent and powerful rider. He landed a clean KGB5 and Backside 315 and clinched the win with a total of 27.6 points.
Qualifier Championship Men’s Final Results
1st Gianmaria Coccoluto
2nd Val Garat
3rd Paul Serin
4th Kalu de Sousa
5th Jerome Cloetens
6th Arthur Guillebert
7th Louka Pitot
8th Nicolas Delmas
9th Sergei Borisov
9th Lucas Ferreira
9th Edgar Ulrich
9th Anthar Racca
13th Domantas Jusionis
13th Romain Giuliano
13th Cohan Van Dijk
13th Soufiane Hassouni
17th Julien Krikken
17th Youssef Keribech
17th Jonas Ouahmid
17th Oscar Perrineau
21st Abraham Moutaoukil
21st Ivanildo Fernades
21st Larbi Ed-Darkaoui
21st Augustas Dudenas
21st Aron Rosslee
21st Yassine Bouceta
21st Oussama Bouhcabchoub
Congratulations to all riders for their exceptional performances from the very start of this event!
The Elite Championship registration takes place today, with the event starting tomorrow morning. You will be able to watch the entire live stream here!
