IKA World Championships - Pingtan China // Strapless Kitesurfing - Strapless Kitesurfing

IKA World Championships wave and big air rounds- Pingtan China

Two action videos at the end of the article, 1st is the Ika official video, the 2d is the report of our secret agent, Serguey Mysovskiy.

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Day one started early for both riders and staff with a first skippers meeting at 830am and the opening ceremony straight afterwards. The Chinese don’t do things in small measures, they always go all out in celebration and this opening ceremony was no exception, top delegates came to sanction the event and show their support for the field of world class athletes.

With low tide in the morning the choice was made to begin with the big air. This was decided open as the waves are generally shaped better throughout the higher tide on Pingtan beach which would better suit the requirements of the Waveriding division.

A solid 20 knots of wind provided a great platform for the Big-Air riders to showcase their skills, with an over-all impression format in use it was imperative that riders show the judges a well-rounded approach to their heats in order to advance to the later rounds.

Round one for the men saw Crathern, Martinez, Kerneur and Hoppe all winning their respective heats and posting up some solid scores. Crathern, Martinez and Hoppe all reached the 80 point mark (out of a possible 100), with Martinez pushing hard to score an 88.3.

All of these men showed a solid combination of big jumps, kiteloops and handle-pass maneuvers to place them at the top of the pack. We shouldn’t underestimate the underdogs but it looks fairly likely that it will also be these four men battling it out for a spot on the podium in the later rounds tomorrow.

On the Womens side of the big-air local rider Chen put on an artistic display in heat one to come in tied for first place with rider Hou. Both Women will advance to the Finals tomorrow coming up against Magaji and Correia from heat two.

It was undoubtedly Magaji though who stole the show for the Women, posting up a 76.6 putting even some of the Men to shame. Magaji showed a well rounded performance with not only High Jumps but also both Boardoffs and big Kiteloops filling out her repertoire and setting her apart from the rest of the field.

As the tide came in so did the Waves and the decision was made to put the Big-Air on hold in favor of the Waveriding discipline.

The waves were hotly contested with a sporadic beach break prevalent through out the competition area. Riders were tested on not only their board skills but also on their ability to read and choose the correct wave to catch in order to maximize their scoring potential.

Riders Matoz, Ribeiro, Ferreira and Kerneur all placed first in their round one heats respectively advancing straight to the semi-final round. With all three besides Kerneur posting a score in the 14s (for a two wave total) it was clear that it would be tight in the final rounds.

Carew and Brito were the two lucky riders who pushed through the second chance round two to meet the four winners from round one.

Heat 13 saw a super close battle between Matos and Ribeiro with both surfers exchanging blows wave by wave, however it would be Matos taking out Ribeiro with what can only be described as his signature clinical vertical backhand attack.

In Heat 14 Carew as the underdog managed to better his position by narrowly edging out the competition vetran Kerneur by half a point for a place in the loosers final and a chance at a third place finish tomorrow.

However Ferreira got the upper-hand in the heat 14 exchange with his smooth approach pushing him into a final round match up tomorrow where his skills will be tested against the precise vertical attack of Matos. There’s no doubt that these final two heats will be exciting to watch!

Over on the Womens side the Waves were largely dominated by both Correira and Ferreira the Portuguese and Brazilian duo. These two Ladies showed a rail game that some of the men could even learn a thing or two from and they no doubt will have their eyes set on the prize in the final heat tomorrow.

Hou came through the consolidation round to meet the two in the final tomorrow but will have a hard time against these veteran athletes. It will be interesting to see how they all perform in the one heat and whether or not they can continue their form with the added pressure on their shoulders.

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Day two at the 2016 Pingtan Kiteboarding Grand Slam got off to a somewhat lazy start – as the tide was still very low early on, the decision was made to hold back the competition and wait for better water and wave conditions later on. By 11am the conditions were looking great and the Big Air finals for both Men and Women commenced followed by the Waveriding discipline.

The Womens Big-Air losers final (for 5^th place) saw a notable absence of the Brazilian Ferreira who said she was saving her energy for the Waveriding finals. The heat commenced without her and the three Women all fought hard for a place. It was however to be Korean rider Youngeun Lee narrowly inching out the other two Women (Tien and Jantawan) with some lofty big jumps towards the end of the heat securing her an overall 5^th place finish.

It was assumed that the Womens final (heat 8) would be an easy win for Magaji given her performance the day earlier, she however got off to a slow start with both Correia and Chen gaining a lead early on with some high jumps and spins off the 4ft waves. Magaji only got things happening around the half way mark showing some nicely controlled Board Off tricks and clean Double Spins. Correia answered back again late with a few nice Kiteloops but it wasn’t enough to match the clean style and height of Magaji, landing Correia in a second place finish with Magaji claiming her first Big Air win for the year.

The Mens semi finals (heats 13, 14) were also exciting to watch, with both heats having a stacked field of riders. The rankings changed many times throughout the heats but there was to be one common factor in both heats and that was; that the two riders who advanced to the winners final were the two riders who both managed to execute high technical jumps in combination with kiteloops, Handlepass and Boardoff maneuvers.

The riders were guided in the skippers meeting that this would be a big factor in close scoring situations and it was clear that the judges decisions today were certainly influenced by this.

The bottom half of the semi finals made up the loosers final (heat 15). There was a notable absence of the Thai rider Yo who sadly injured his ribs during his heat 14 semi final. We hope that Yo is ok and that he can still compete in the Twin-Tip race class in the days to come as he’s been know to do very well there in the past.

It was the two Frenchman however who would battle down to the wire for a 5^th place trophy. Both Kerneur and Lhostis went hard with big Kiteloops and Onefoot / Board Off maneuvers, Kerneur getting serious towards the end trying some handlepass manuvers that he hadn’t tried in any heat previous, perhaps trying to swing the judges opinion his way. We’re not sure if it worked but in the end Kerneur narrowly defeated Lhostis by just three points taking out 5^th place for the event.

The Mens final was by far their most exciting heat of the day with all four men going massive and looking like it was possible that any of them could take the win. Young Carew from Australia put up a massive effort for his first international event, throwing some of the biggest kiteloops but coming unstuck on some of his other tricks landing him in a 4^th place finish.

Posito also looked great in the beginning starting out with a huge couple of handlepass jumps but later crashing out on some big spins and failing to produce a big Kiteloop, which likely aided his 3^rd place finish.

The top two men were a step above the other two, noticeably going higher more often and pulling out some wild Kiteloops and large dynamic jumps. One particular Kiteloop had the crowd thinking Crathern may end up in hospital once again, getting caught very late by the kite wowing both spectators and judges alike.

Hoppe on the other hand pulled what was likely the most technical trick of the day, a massive Kiteloop front roll, which we must assumed scored high, but it just wasn’t enough to take out the variety and risk displayed by Lewis. Crathern making some huge Jumps with a Handlepass that Hoppe did not, landing him in a deserved 1^st place with Hoppe in a close 2^nd, with Posito and Carew in 3^rd and 4^th respectively.

The Wave-riding discipline saw conditions very similar to yesterday, with no noticeable increase in wave height or wind strength.

The three-women final was up first, hotly contested by both Correira and Ferreira with Hou trailing behind but giving it her best shot. The Portuguese and Brazilian riders have both been in many events together and no doubt were keen to take out the win today.

Correira had some what of an advantage riding on her frontside down the line while Ferreira was on her backhand making it harder for her to quickly attack the lip. Ferreira gave it her best shot, producing some nice linked together turns but looked less comfortable in comparision to her heats the days previous.

Correira showed a dominant attack from heat start to finish with powerful smooth bottom to top turns which no doubt sealed her 1^st place finish, with Ferreira and Hou trailing behind in 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

The mens loosers final (heat 15) saw the return of the young Australian Carew once again who was no doubt keen to better on his 4^th place finish in the big air just a few heats earlier. It wasn’t to be however as the seasoned Frenchman Ribeiro used his superior wave selection and repertoire, narrowly defeating the Australian by a margin of just over a point.

Heat 16 (the Mens Wave final) was no-doubt the closest heat of the entire competition, with both men swapping positions throughout the heat and continuing to challenge one another to deliver a world championship worthy performance.

Both Men delivered a clinical backhand attack with very little difference between them. Matoz very narrowly had better wave selection and repertoire pulling off the only smooth backhand 360 cutbacks seen in the entire competition. Ferreira however was trying his best to solidify a first place finish claiming at the end of some rides and attempting some unique tricks of his own; the stand out being what can be described as a backhand backflip off the lip (down the line).

Ferreira tried hard to pull his backflip move off throughout the heat getting super close on two occasions but very un-fortunately only pulling it off on his 13^th wave (which was outside his allowed wave count and thus not scoring). Had Ferreira pulled off his backflip he likely would have taken the heat win, as such it resulted that Matoz narrowly took the 1^st place victory over Ferreira by a super slim 0.04 points!

With another amazing round of action today the whole team is excited for the great forecast for the rest of the week and the start of the Twin-Tip race category tomorrow. We’re expecting the races to be exciting with such a big field present so make sure to stay up to date with the latest reports!

Final Results Big Air Men:
1. Lewis Crathern (GBR, North) – 94.3pts
2. Marius Hoppe (GER, Core/F2) – 90.7pts
3. Posito Martinez (DOM, Da Silva) – 75.7pts

Final Results Big Air Women:
1. Bibiana Magaji (SVK, Flysurfer) – 89.3pts
2. Ines Correia (POR, North) – 80pts
3. Jingle Chen (CHN, Ozone) – 57.3pts

Final Results Wave Performance Men:
1. Pedro Matoz (BRA, North) – 14.47pts
2. Filippe Ferreira (BRA, F-One) – 14.43pts
3. Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA, North) – 13.67pts

Final Results Wave Performance Women:

Ines Correia (POR, North)
Milla Ferreira (BRA,Cabrinha)
Jia Lin Hou (TAI, F-One)

IKA official video followed by the report by our secret agent Serguey.

This is the extraordinary story of my trip to the Kitesurfing World Cup (waveriding) IKA in China to the island of Pingtan. On my way there were many obstacles and it was difficult sometimes, but all turned out well. Briefly, my path was: Saint Petersburg-Dubai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Xiamen-Fuzhou-Pingtan… I recommend to read (before watching) my story with photos about this trip: http://mysovskiy.com/puteshestvie-v-k…
Then you definitely will visit on this journey with me!
Thank you for watching.
The video contains Pedro Mazoz, Filippe Ferreira, Sebastian Ribeiro, James Carew, Ines Correia, Milla Ferreira and Antonio Ciliberto.
Subscribe to my chanel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bychiy
& Insta: @mysovskiy
Peace for everyone!
Sergey Mysovsky.

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IKA World Championships wave and big air rounds- Pingtan China

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