PKRA - Day 2 - End of the single elimination in Noumea

The second day of the Noumea Kitesurf Pro went on with the single elimination. It was an action pack day, with many amazing heats. The one thing that all the riders agreed on was that the conditions were challenging. This did not stop them from landing an array of great tricks. Unexpectedly, World Champion Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot) lost against Mario Rodwald (GER, North) in the quarter finals leaving Alex Pastor (ESP, Airsuh) to win the singles today over Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch) and Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha). For the women Asia Litwin (POL, Nobile) took the win of this single elimination in Noumea.

The entire competition was filmed live and you can check out all the heat replay at .

A slight shift in the wind direction made the Meridien beach unrideable and the riders had to ride further offshore where the water was slightly choppy and the wind a little gusty. The day started with the women’s competition, the nine women that did not have a chance to compete yesterday were eager to take it to the water. The first upset of the competition came pretty early in the women’s quarter final when Rachel Baglin (AUS, Cabrinha) upset Holly Kennedy (GBR, North) by landing more blind tricks. Rachel eventually went on to the final against Asia Litwin (POL, Nobile). The third and fourth place heat was in-between Noemi Le Boutriller (FRA, Ozone) and Anais Rouveyrol (FRA, Naish). Rachel was able to beat Anais by landing a nice back role to blind, she was happy to land it during the heat because it is a trick she is not very consistent with, the feeling of finishing third was “cool".

The final was dominated by Litwin (POL, Nobile) who landed a super clean and powerful blind judge and 313 as well as a few more technical tricks than the new up and comer Rachel who was happy with her second place. This was her second professional competition and she is planning on doing more. Asia is currently on top of the podium which she has not done since the PKRA in St Peter Ording, Germany back in 2009.

The men’s level was extremely high, with an incredible amount of technical tricks being performed by the top eight men. The first heat of the quarter final was between Reno Romeu (BRA, North) and Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha). The heat was close and finished in a 2-1 judging decision. Alberto got the upper hand with his grabbed tricks and clean execution of switch tricks. Reno was powerful but could not match Alberto’s consistency.

The next heat was between Alex Pastor (ESP, Airush) and Sebastien Garat (FRA, RRD). Alex was on fire today landing a blind judge 5 (to blind) and a very clean front blind mobe. Both riders were in boots and had really good power and clean landings.

The third heat of the quarters was an upset for the local Tom Hebert (FRA, North) who lost to the Kiwi Marc Jacobs (NZL, Switch). Tom had many big tricks but Marc’s execution of the tricks was almost perfect with a lot of speed and power.

The biggest upset of the event was delivered by Mario Rodwald (GER, North) who took down Youri Zoon (NED, Slingshot), 2011 world champion, who had not lost a heat in the entire 2011 season. Even though Youri lost one heat he is still able to win the event in the double elimination, if he can come all the way back up the ladder. Mario’s tricks were done with a lot of power and style from the start of the heat and never gave a chance to Youri to get back to his rhythm.

The loser’s final was in-between Alberto Rondina (ITA, Cabrinha) and Mario Rodwald (GER, North). This heat Mario landed a good powerful blind judge and grabbed KGB, but was unable to match Alberto’s Blind Judge 5 and an array of switch tricks. Mario was happy with his fourth place, being his best finish of the year in s single elimination. He was also stoked to be the only rider to beat Youri Zoon this year. Alberto was happy with his podium especially having broken his board today and with these gusty wind conditions.

The final was really good, both Marc and Alex were pushing the limits and putting a lot of power into their tricks. Marc was landing his big S3, grabbed Slim and more. He was worried about the light wind and was making sure to keep his kite low. Alex was on fire landing another BJ5 and front blind mobe plus some nice switch tricks. He really liked the feel of the boots and they were giving him more pop and confidence in his landings.

The Single elimination was full of great action today, if you didn’t have a chance to catch up the live stream, make sure you check it tomorrow to follow the double elimination and check back on any heat that was already run on: