LIVETICKER DAY 9 (GMT+4)
Current discipline: Kite-Surf
Judging Criteria: Pure wave – 22 minute heats / best 2 waves count from 15 possible waves
Wind: Sideshore 15 – 22 knots
Wave conditions: Clean head high and above and peeling left to right as we look at them at the moment
Note: This liveticker automatically updates every couple of minutes if ticker is online!
Note: Scroll down on this page for the live heat score and heat ladder (scroll right on the heat ladder widget below to see the double elimination heats)
You can also find the individual wave scores here.
Report: Jim Gaunt
That’s it! Nine epic days later, two huge double eliminations complete in the men’s and women’s kite-surf division after a ragingly tight Freestyle competition earlier in the week. Huuuuge high fives to all involved. Can we crash now! Day nine kite-surf results and reports below, including the climaxes to both the men’s and women’s kite-surf double eliminations.
15.15 – WOMEN’S FINAL RESULT:
Jalou Langeree (NED) V Ninja Ricot (GER / MRU)
In her sixth heat of the day (astonishingly her sixth back-to-back), Ninja was still firing well, and volleyed up a quick pair of waves, gaining a 5.47 and 6.2, throwing a tasty 11.67 firmly back into Jalou’s court.
Both women then came in on the same wave; Ninja further upwind pulled away and let Jalou go at it, but she managed just two turnsm causing no threat to Ninja’s tally.
Jalou’s legs were clearly looking fresh, particularly coming off the top after such a strong bottom turn. She was ultra fluid, kicking up a big fan tail as she carved the board back beyond 180 towards the white water. Both these women have beautiful caving and progressive surf styles. When they throw themselves low into a bottom turn they turn just as sharply back up the face as the men. Two of the top three women in wave kiting going head to head here (we’re missing Moona Whyte who was competing on home turf at a US event).
Langeree struck back hard on her fifth wave, awarded with a high 7.7 and suddenly she was sitting on a two wave 13.83 tally. That was going to be hard for Ninja to come back from. In round five she’d scored 13.17 against Edin a couple of hours earlier and 14.1 in her single elimination heat against Jalou (Jalou smashed out 15.77 from two waves in that heat, which is why Ninja has had to fight her way up through so many rounds today – thanks to that unlucky draw early in the singles against Jalou).
So, top and bottom of the story was that this heat was far from over…
Ninja needed to match Jalou’s 7.7 to take the lead. Jalou worked three turns on the inside and punched out the back to see Ninja on a big one. One, two, three huge turns and a fourth against the white water on the inside. Her rail just about holding on along with her legs on those last two turns, somehow then managing a tail slide at the end. That could be up in the 7s if the judges didn’t see too much of a faltering line with her tired legs. It took a while for that score to come in… it was a big moment. 6.73: just not quite enough.
Jalou got into another and was getting stronger as the heat went on (this was her first heat of the day remember). Her turns were sharp and aggressive and she was shredding fluidly along the sections now. An 8.27 popped up on the livescore, a crushing blow from the world champion and she was sitting on 15.97, the highest heat score of the event.
The waves continued – this set had been kind to the contest – but none of the remaining waves added to the score, despite some meaty hacks at the lip from both women. The wave count was very even, too: 13 waves to 12 in Jalou’s favour
Jalou’s tight and incisive top to bottom surfing is compact and controlled, keeping her right in the section all the time. Throughout the heat it’s fair to say that Ninja had the biggest hacks at the top of the biggest waves, but it was Jalou’s totally fluid, constant rail-to-rail surfing with speed and power that earned the biggest rewards from the judges. They may not have been the biggest waves in the set, but she worked them ideally to her strengths.
RESULT:
Jalou Langeree wins the GKA Kite World Cup Mauritius Kite-Surf division!
1st Jalou Langeree 15.97
2nd Ninja Ricot: 12.93
14.45 – ROUND NINE RESULT
Carla Herrera-Oria (ESP) V Ninja Ricot (GER – living in Mauritius)
Just one more heat for Ninja to complete the comeback and get her re-match against Jalou. This was her fifth heat today.
Ninja started well as usual, showing that she really knows how to work her way around a section if it’s not working to get into position where it does work.
The Spaniard is a real hard charger though and doesn’t want to drop points at the top of the championship.
But Ninja is flowing and it’s not unusual to see her making four beautiful top to bottom turns on smooth faces, working it all the way to small. 6.7 a really good score. Time and again she delivered an average score above the best that most other competitors managed to get today. Often pushing her fins free, she’s very dynamic. Carla, a freestyle specialist finding her way in waves, couldn’t match this sort of honed style and wave reading.
Out of nowhere an absolute bomb piled in towards the beach. Ninja was obviously on it and all around her the horizon turned white with a massive explosion. She dipped her head on front of her shoulders and managed to ride it out. You’d think she may have rested a bit, but unaware of how much of a lead she had, Ninja posted a 6 on her penultimate wave to ensure she made the final.
A little rest for her now, then it’s Jalou, but she’s got to beat her twice!
RESULT
#Ninjareturns 12.7 to 10.5
Carla finished 3rd overall
14.10 – ROUND EIGHT RESULT
Maria Kikina V Ninja Ricot
The comeback continues for the local heroine, but Maria Kinkina gave Ninja her biggest scare yet, and with a couple of minutes left it was just 9.2 to 10.8 in Ninja’s favour, but the Bulgarian was showing that she was capable of potentially pulling out a 5 point plus ride. Having worked in a bank prior to travelling for kiting, she understands the laws of investment and being confident – and sometimes you can get a good windfall!
In the end Ninja found an extra gear to pull away further at the end of the heat with a pure 6 and 5.7 at the end.
She gets another 22 minute rest now, then she’s up against singles runner up (and current tour leader) Carla Herrera-Oria!
RESULT:
#Ninjareturns 11.7 to 9.2.
13.30 – It’s female focus all the way now!
ROUND SEVEN RESULT:
Sophia Abreu (BRA) V Ninja Ricot
In her first event, Sophia Abreu from Brazil (Ribeiro’s better half) continued to fight bravely, but again it’s the story of #Ninjareturns ! Ninja Ricot (formerly Bichler – go Google her) has been queen of world tour Mauritius events twice and progresses through her fourth win of the day today. She’s now possibly just two heats away from a re-match against Jalou who awaits in the final as the singles winner.
RESULT:
#Ninjareturns – winning 12.07 to 8.07
She now gets a one heat length break (22 minutes) before facing Maria Kinkina from Bulgaria who finished third in the single elimination on Thursday.
13.15 – MEN’S FINAL RESULT
Buckle-up boys and girls:
James Carew (AUS) V Airton Cozzolino
James snuck into a pitching wave on his first run, got a little cover up and managed to sneak out through a little gap in the front door.
Meanwhile Airton was on the biggest wave of the day. Are you kidding?? His wave riding is just so staggeringly powerful. Bam bam bam, turn after turn, huge spray at the lip every time. 7.87 first wave, 7.5 for his second.
15.37 versus James’ 9.42 after two waves. Oh yes, this final is ON!
Remember, if James can beat Airton in this heat, he’ll force a super final and they’ll go at it again as Airton must be beaten twice as the single elimination champion.
Airton looks to be able to take advantage of the ‘dirtier’ sections on his hacking frontside approach, cutting back into the wave whenever an off-the-lip isn’t possible. James is locked into just constantly thundering hits, battering the crumbling lip line into submission. But he’s going to need a barrel I feel to take this.
He closes in though, a 6.95 bringing him up to 11.7 versus 15.37.
He suddenly looked like he was going to switch it up and look for that barrel, bailing early on a couple of waves that looked set-up well for some hits, but weren’t pitching. He must have seen Airton’s hits.
In 17 years, I have never seen anyone bottom turn so hard and tight on their frontside as Airton. He actually comes out of his turn with more, not less speed, which means that his smacks at the top of the wave are simply outstanding. Pure power surfing. Eight waves in and his first two scores remained his best though. That’s Airton’s power – start on a high and put the opponent under pressure fro the start.
It was a quiet few minutes for the Australian until he managed a 5.23, taking him up to 12.18. He worked his way all the way down a really long wave from one side of the competition box to the other but managed only three turns – there was so much white water to evade.
Wave ten for Airton was spectacular and was obviously going to be a big score. When it dropped it was an 8.83 – and was made up of the most vertical animalistic succession of turns and hits – perfect at the lip every time and never out of the critical section. I hope we can show you that wave in full on the highlights video. It was absolutely incredible.
Waves started to shape up bigger again and right at the end of the heat James pulled in looking for the cover up once more. It didn’t happen. A minute later he got another opportunity though – this time he went in and pulled out punching through the curtain. Not massive, but worth it as he got an 8.07, bringing him up to 15.02…
Airton somehow banked into yet another turn, brushed his fingers in the water, looked up and saw a chance for the cover up. He allowed his turn to bring him up the wave where he re-set his rail, pulled in and made it out of the curtain very similarly to James;t a 7.77 for that one; the score remained unchanged
In the end the difference was that 8.83 wave where Airton plugged his brain directly into the main power supply of the wave and let the voltage flow through his body, charging that face as hard as any wave has ever been kited from start to finish. Total destruction.
Once again a packed heat from these two and an absolute joy to watch: 15 waves each. There’s the bell. School’s out.
RESULT:
Airton Cozzolino is the Mauritius champion: 16.7 to 15.02.
Up next, we’re back in the ring as #Ninjareturns!
12.48 Women
Olivia Jenkins V Ninja Ricot
Olivia knew she had her work cut out against Ninja and she put a real shift in here. Constantly four wave attempts more than Ninja throughout, but it was the local rider’s two rides of 4.73 and 4.57 (not as high as we’ve seen from her so far today) that gave her at least a three point advantage throughout.
Ninja’s frontside riding is very consistent and constantly in and around the pocket, working the steepest part of the wave. Olivia’s good bottom turn was bringing her around well but she couldn’t quite find the pivot at the top on her topside to bring herself back round as vertically.
Ninja registered a 5.07 on wave six to move her total up to 9.8. Olivia’s best single wave score at that point was a 3.77, so with five minutes to go she needed a big set (as the last ten minutes had been weaker in its wave delivery).
The Hawaiian resident continued and ground out a 3.6 = her tally was up to 7.37 versus Ninja’s 9.8. Closer, but in the end not close enough. Ninja compounded the result with a 5.73 on wave eight – proving that she’s so consistent.
RESULT:
Ninja wins again! 10.8 to 7.37
12.30 – Mens Double SEMI FINAL RESULT:
James Carew (AUS) V Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA)
Both backside, both on green Duotone kites, we’re seeing double!
Carew careers into a big deep barrel attempt right at the start of the heat – it detonates on his head and we see his board ping up through the back.
Sebastian’s on the next wave right behind, bounding up and down and timing his top hits to perfection, maintaining speed and flow.
Wave count will be high in this heat if the first few waves are anything to go by. So many turns for each rider just working the sections as if they have no kites. Sebastian a surfer on the WQS surfing tour in the past, and it shows.
The standard of these two is so high and their backside top turn execution is so powerful and vertical compared to anyone else we’ve seen this week. Kite choice has been critical this week to not get pulled out of the wave for backside riders and these two look to have got it just right: powered enough to pull in and out, but free enough to create the lines they want. Seb’s on a 9, James on an 8. Top to bottom wave surfing throughout.
The difference with these two all week has been that although they are super radical at the top of the wave, they rarely lose their balance on the drop down. Man power met the ocean’s energy at the lip and in collaboration the two evenly matched forces seemed to help both riders maintain solid flow. No wobbles. A classic example of going in hard and coming out strong.
15 minutes to go and James held the advantage with 6.83 and 8.23 = 15.06 to Sebastian’s 6.23 and 6.97 = 13.2
James is finally the first to succumb to the lip on a massive hit, propelled forward, landing on his back. Smack. He must have bashed the reed.
Similarly, Sebastian couldn’t keep up with the speed of the curl on his next wave and was thrown onto his chest.
In general however, this was a great lesson in watching the wave, adapting and creating opportunities. Sebastian pressed on the tail to slow down and wait for the wave to catch up. James pressured his front foot hard to accelerate round a massive white water section.
No barrel opportunities as yet, and it looked like James had learnt the lesson after losing to Airton in the single elimination final – not to spend too long purely hunting out pits.
Sebastian narrowed the gap on his ninth wave with a 7.73, bringing the scores to 14.8 and 15.06 still in favour of the Australian.
James then had a mare on the inside, dropping his kite and it got annihilated. His kite caddy by the reef was Francesco Cappuzzo who was on hand for a quick kite swap on the edge of the reef and outside of the competition area. Four minutes to go…
The hunting continued, smashing sections, evading white water, cracking the lip time and again. The waves were up and down; generally not as big as we’ve seen, but the boys were still picking out the pearls somehow.
As predicted the wave count was high with a minute to go: 12 for James, 13 for Ribeiro. James still ahead by a whisker. A 6.7 and 6.5 for both riders on their last wave were good rides, but in the end didn’t affect the final score.
Sebastian’s surge through the double elimination finally cames to a finish. He won seven heats yesterday after a disaster in the single elimination and somehow worked his way up to the podium.
RESULT:
Carew wins 15.06 to 14.8 and will face Airton Cozzolino again – this time in the double elimination final. Sebastian finishes the event in third position. Congrats! Someone get that man a beer!
12.05 – HEAT 30 B ROUND FIVE RESULT:
Olivia Jenkins (UK) V Peri Roberts (AUS)
Now we’re starting to see the women rip. Ninja Ricot upped the game in the last heat and now Olivia Jenkins, Jaws charger, looks to be getting dialled in out here. Not a regular on the tour, but a renowned big wave rider at her home on Hawaii, she only had a short experience in the singles and as we’ve seen this wave takes some reading. The waves are also holding up better today and both Olivia and Peri are carving hard and fast, banking aggressively into tight bottom turns and getting multiple hits along the wave.
Getting rewarded too – Peri on 10.33 from her best two waves with just two minutes to go; Olivia on 8.63.
Peri has been powerful this morning and was the first woman we’ve seen really trying to pull into a big pit in her last heat. She didn’t make it out, but full respect there. Her bottom turns are particularly hard and fast – really impressive, taking advantage of the square nosed Naish skater’s buoyant power.
Peri frontside and Olivia backside – the backside riders at this event have looked more comfortable in big hacking turns at the top of the bigger faces and Olivia definitely hunting that route.
It paid off for her in a big way on her seventh and last wave, getting a 5.9, edging her ahead 10.83 to Peri’s 10.33. Ouch.
RESULT: Olivia wins and will go up against Ninja after the men’s semi final
11.48 – Heat 30A ROUND FIVE RESULT:
Ninja Ricot V Catarina Edin
#ninjereturns to dominate another heat, executing super smooth rail to rail carves, top to bottom riding, expert kite control to not out run the wave and stay tucked in tight to the breaking sections. A 6.77 and a 6.4 have her 13.17 versus 6.1 victory.
Ninja marches on to round six where the double elimination really takes hold – winner stays on the water basically in the race to meet Jalou Langeree who is already in the final as winner of the singles! Who will the Dutch destroyer face?
11.40 – Conditions are looking really clean out there and not too windy. We’re looking good with the tide on the push. Plenty of overhead waves.
Result update:
Advancing through Women’s double ROUND FOUR:
Ricot beat Groschupf
Edin beat Fonseca Kohler
Jenkins beat Schlotte
Roberts beat Scardello
Two heats to come in ROUND FIVE – before switching to the men’s semi-final:
Ninja Ricot (MRU) V Catarina Edin (SWE) – currently on the water
Olivia Jenkins (UK – living in Hawaii) V Peri Roberts (AUS)
11.00 – Good morning – we continue! Currently on the water, the women and cranking through the early rounds of their double elimination. Having been knocked out of the singles by Jalou Langeree in an early draw two says ago, queen of the waves here in Mauritius, Ninja Ricot has started her assault back up the ladder. #ninjareturns Keep an eye on her progress in the heat ladders further down this page. Peri Roberts has already ridden impressively this morning and also looks like she’s going to have a good run, too.
We will switch to the much anticipated men’s semi final between yesterday’s 7-heat-winning hero Sebastian Ribeiro and single elimination runner-up James Carew after women’s heat 30B
Find the liveticker head reports of the Kite-Surf action and yesterday’s Freestyle heats here:
Day 1 (Friday / Kite-Surf): Here
Day 2 (Saturday / Kite-Surf): Here
Day 3 (Sunday / Freestyle): Here
Day 4 (Monday / Freestyle): Here
Day 5 (Tuesday / Kite-Surf): Here
Day 6 (Wednesday / Kite-Surf): Here
Day 7 (Thursday / Kite-Surf): Here
Day 8 (Friday / Kite-Surf): Here