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WKC Dakhla – Qualifier Championship – Day Two

Published 4th November 2018 by Danny

 

WKC DAKHLA – QUALIFIER CHAMPIONSHIP – DAY TWO
3rd to 5th of November Qualifier Championships
6th to 10th of November Elite Championships

The day started off strong for Day Two of theΒ Qualifier ChampionshipΒ in Dakhla, Morocco, with the wind blowing over 25 knots from the early morning.

TheΒ Men’s Rounds 3Β andΒ 4Β were completed, together with theΒ Women’s Small Final.

Heat 13 –

Heat 13 was the first in sequence, and the athletes hit the water with the wind pumping and the tide high at 10.30 am. Belgian/Spanish riderΒ Jerome CloetensΒ was on fine form for the start of the day, opening with several good tricks, including a niceΒ Double Heart Attack. He clinched the spot in the Semi-Final, together with FrenchmanΒ Nico Delmas,Β who knocked outΒ Sergei BorisovΒ by just 0.01 points, a very tight ending to this first heat of the day.

Heat 14 –

Four french athletes came together for Heat 14, each one wanting to beat his fellow team mate for a chance to advance to the semis. Each athlete pushed to go bigger, but struggled to land their attempts due to the increasing wind conditions.Β Arthur GuillebertΒ andΒ Louka PitotΒ managed to keep a lead on their competitors, trying their best to perform solid tricks in the gusty wind conditions. Their effort paid off as they both passed to the Semi-Finals.

Heat 15 –

Kalu de SousaΒ from Brazil was not going to let the difficult conditions deter him, and put on a strong display of riding. Elite Championship riderΒ Gianmaria CoccolutoΒ from Italy struggled at times to perform as he wanted, but he managed cover the basics, and he followedΒ De SousaΒ into the Semi-Finals, knocking outΒ Edgar UlrichΒ andΒ Cohen van DijkΒ from the competition.

Heat 16 –

Local riderΒ Soufiane HassouniΒ faced a difficult challenge coming up against 3 Elite riders in Heat 16. He worked his way through the heat but it was not easy, and was knocked out at this round. However he receives theΒ WildcardΒ for theΒ Elite ChampionshipΒ as he is the highest qualifying local rider.Β Val GaratΒ from France managed to maintain a lead landing a goodΒ Slim 7Β andΒ Front Blind Mobe.Anthar RaccaΒ from Mexico and FrenchmanΒ Paul SerinΒ remained very close throughout, but it was finallyΒ SerinΒ andΒ GaratΒ who advanced to the Semi-Final.

Women’s Small Final

The wind dipped for the start of the Women’s Small Final, allowing them to ride comfortably on their 7 and 8 metre kites.Β Claudia LeonΒ from Spain successfully worked her way through her heat, landing aΒ Back to BlindΒ andΒ Backside 313.Β She finished the heat in 1st, followed byΒ Osaia RedingΒ in 2nd andΒ Kristina BelogorskayaΒ in 3rd.

MenΒ΄s Semi Finals

Heat 17-

The level was high for the first men’s semi-final, asΒ Jerome Cloetens,Β Paul Serin,Gianmaria CoccolutoΒ andΒ Louka PitotΒ each competed with their eye on a spot in the finals. Young talentΒ Louka PitotΒ from Mauritius opened nicely with aΒ Double Heart AttackΒ but he faced some tough competition.Β Jerome Cloetens ,Β Elite Championship rider from Spain/Belgium was again on fine form for this heat, and landed a cleanΒ Double Heart Attack.Β CoccolutoΒ commenced with aΒ FrontBlind MobeΒ and a niceΒ 317,Β but couldn’t execute all of his tricks with his usual power. He landed a smoothΒ Back Mobe 5Β for his last trick to seal the deal. All four riders remained very close in points throughout the heat, and it all came down to the final trick attempt.Β Paul SerinΒ scored 7.1 for aΒ Double Heart Attack, and he advances to the final together withΒ Gianmaria Coccoluto. It was a very close heat from all athletes.

Heat 18 –

Kalu de SousaΒ had started the day with some impressive riding, but struggled to maintain the same standard at the start of Heat 18, crashing his first two attempts. Young French riderΒ Arthur GuillebertΒ however had a storming start, throwing down aΒ Front Blind MobeΒ andΒ Heart AttackΒ for his first attempts. Elite Championship riderΒ Val GaratΒ pulled out an impressiveΒ Slim 7Β scoring 8.27 points.Β Nico DelmasΒ landed a cleanΒ Double Heart AttackΒ andΒ Hinterberger Mobe 5, but still struggled to climb up into the top two positions.Β Kalu de Sousastepped up his game withΒ Slim 7Β that scored 8.43 points, the highest score of the day. He followed it up with aΒ 317Β which pushed him all the way up to the first position.Β Val GaratΒ finished 2nd and both of them advance to the finals.Β Nico DelmasΒ andΒ Arthur GuillebertΒ were close in points but their final crashed trick attempts cost them dearly.

The Men’s and Women’s Qualifier finals with be held tomorrow. ClickΒ hereΒ to follow all of theΒ live scoring.

The Elite Championship and the live stream will be starting on the 6th of November.

WKC Media

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