Day 2: The men's main draw begins as anticipation builds ahead of tomorrow

The second day of the Dunkerbeck-Eyewear Siam Park - El Médano - Tenerife PWA World Cup eventually saw the men’s trials heats completed, whilst further heats were run in both the men’s and women’s single eliminations. Having spent much of the day waiting around for the wind and waves to improve, the action eventually kicked off shortly after 5 PM in light, and sometimes gusty winds together with small waves.

Trials

Before the men’s main draw could begin the trials needed to be completed in the tricky conditions, which presented themselves. In the opening heat Ben Proffitt took on Markus Rydberg, Eric Sanllehy and Maciek Rutkowski. In the end, Proffitt and Rutkowski advanced.

Heat 2 eventually saw Martin ten Hoeve and Jonas Ceballos progress over Pablo Ramirez and Alesky Gayda. In fact, Ceballos earned the highest scoring wave of the day - 9 points - after landing a sick frontside wave 360. In the meantime, Boujmaa Guilloul and Albert Pijoan advanced from Heat 3, before seventeen year old Arthur Arutkin produced a great display in the challenging conditions to advance from the final trials heat, along with Kenneth Danielsen. Meaning there is no place in the contest for Graham Ezzy - who was visibly unhappy with the outcome and the heat being allowed to stand.

Men’s - Single Elimination

The opening heat of the single elimination saw Robby Swift take on Kenneth Danielsen, whilst Thomas Traversa battled it out against Valter Scotto. Swift navigated his way past the Danishman after making the most of the conditions on offer, whilst Traversa also booked his place in the next round.

Victor Fernandez comfortably dispatched of Jose Romero Santana in Heat 2, but the a-side saw a much closer battle between Omar Sanchez and Martin ten Hoeve. With just two minutes to go, Sanchez was leading the heat, but ten Hoeve struck late - landing a one-handed backloop - to steal the victory at the last second.

Alessio Stillrich and Klaas Voget enjoyed a close encounter in Heat 3 as both sailors produced excellent performances. Stillrich opened up with a trademark pushloop, but Voget was on fire on the waves as he firstly boosted into a radical frontside air, before delivering several vertical, snappy turns over the remainder of the heat to defeat the nineteen year old. On the opposite side, John Skye left things late against Jonas Ceballos, but eventually did enough with his final two waves to progress into round two.

The final heat of the day to be completed witnessed the reigning world champion - Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne - in action against Arthur Arutkin, but the Brazilian wasn’t in his usual groove, but he still got the job done against his seventeen year old rival in the end. Meanwhile, Dario Ojeda was unfortunate to run into an on fire Moritz Mauch, as the Spaniard would’ve progressed from the other side of the heat. However, all credit goes to Mauch, who produced the standout waveriding of the day. Not only with his smooth and vertical turns, but also with his wave selection, which saw him earn an impressive 8.625 points for a single wave.

Women’s - Single Elimination

The first women’s heat of the day saw the conclusion of the second round, featuring Justyna Sniady versus Waka Nishida and Sarah-Quita Offringa versus reigning world champion - Daida Moreno - who made the most of the conditions to launch into a brilliant one-handed backloops, whilst excelling on the way to navigate her way through a potentially tricky heat against Offringa. Meanwhile, Sniady efficiently dispatched of her Japanese opponent to set up a duel against Daida in the next round.

Steffi Wahl continued to look in good form in Heat 13 as she demonstrated more fluid wave riding to comfortably progress past Carmen Afonso Martin. The b-side saw Iballa Moreno end the hopes of Sara Sommer as the Spaniard produced a clinical performance, with the highlight being an amazing one-footed forward.

Amanda Beenen faced good friend Olya Raskina in Heat 14, but was able to temporarily put friendship aside to book her place in the last four. The Dutch girl rotated through a clean forward loop before delivering several vertical hacks to advance. Meanwhile, Daida Moreno, proved too much for Justyna Sniady as she rotated through a perfect backloop and slid through a stylish taka to continue her march towards top spot.

The forecast for tomorrows look brilliant with strong winds combined with bigger waves being predicted for the entirety of Day 3, which should hopefully see the world’s best wave sailors truly explode into action. The skippers’ meeting tomorrow morning has been called for 9 AM with the action commencing form 9:30 AM. Don’t miss any of what is set to be an epic day by tuning into PWA World Tour where you’ll be able to follow the action as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

The inaugural day of the Dunkerbeck-Eyewear Siam Park - El Médano - Tenerife PWA World Cup saw the sailors registering between 10 AM and 12 PM. Over the duration of the morning, the wind slowly built and by the late afternoon the women began their single elimination, after the juniors had earlier taken center stage. By the end of the opening day, all but one heat of the first two rounds has been completed.

Women’s - Single Elimination

The opening heat of the day saw Carmen Afonso Martin take on Lucy Robson on the a-side, whilst Sarah Bibby battled it out against Montse Collado. In the end, Afonso Martin proved too much for Robson, whilst Bibby produced an excellent display of sailing to dispatch of Collado.

Heleen Muijsers lined up against Maeli Cherel in the second heat of the day and it was Cherel who managed to progress. Cherel combined a forward loop with a couple of solid waves to end the hopes of the Dutch girl for now. Meanwhile, Olya Raskina safely negotiated her way into the second round after defeating Caterina Stenta.

In the last heat of the opening round, Sarah-Quita Offringa earned the highest scores of the day so far. The lady from Aruba launched into a big shaka before backing it up with a couple of good waves, as she showed that she will be a threat in the waves as well as freestyle and slalom. On the opposite side of the draw, Serena Zoia successfully advanced past fifteen year old Nicole Bandini, who was making her debut on the PWA World Tour.

Steffi Wahl looked in fine form in her opening heat of the contest against Sarah Bibby. The German demonstrated her fluid wave riding once more to accumulate the highest score thus far - 17.625 points - after also landing a clean forward loop. Meanwhile, Afonso Martin received a bye into the next round.

Iballa Moreno safely advanced into round three as she efficiently dispatched of Maeli Cherel. On her way to victory, Iballa showed off her powerful and aggressive wave riding whilst rotating through a perfectly executed forward loop, before launching into a big backloop, but unfortunately she couldn’t quite hold the landing. on the a-side Sara Sommer looked in confident mood as she defeated Caroline Weber.

Heat 11 proved to be the final heat of the day and in the end Olya Raskina and Amanda Beenen were able to navigate their way into the next round.

Junior’s

Marc Pare claimed the opening victory of the week in the youths division as he made a strong defense to his title from Pozo. The man from Catalunya landed a perfect, ankle dry backloop to move into the lead and he soon backed up his score with some stylish waveriding. Noah Vocker Roche finished a close second, whilst Romain Cordier and Gustav Haggstrom claimed third and fourth place respectively.

The forecast for tomorrow promises slightly stronger wind and waves, so the skippers’ meeting tomorrow morning has been called for 10 AM with the action commencing from 10:30 AM. Don’t miss any of the amazing action by tuning into PWA World Tour where you’ll be able to follow the event as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

- Text and pictures are courtesy of John Carter / PWA World Tour -