The Virgin Kitesurf World Championships tour stop in Venezuela saw great action today as the wind started to pick up in the afternoon. The competition started with men and women freestyle round 1.
In the men’s heat of today the young Brazilian Carlos Mario beat current world champion Christophe Tack as well as Jerrie Van De Kop. Mario and Tack were raising the bar with every trick performed landing a host of double handle passes scoring over 9 points. Mario finally managed to claim victory with an impressive 46.2 points – the highest score ever recorded – sending him straight to round 3. Jerrie Van De Kop could not match his opponents but still pulled off great powered tricks.
The surprise of the day was Hannah Whiteley beating nine-time world champion Gisela Pulido who could not land her usual tricks and missed too many points to take the lead. Hannah Whiteley was on form and secured the heat delivering a variety of powerful manoeuvres. Also strong performances were showcased by Karolina Winkowska and Paula Novotna in their respective heats – both competitors will demonstrate their skills again in round 3.
More pictures on our Facebook page. Pictures credit by Rodrigo Ungaro and Juan Santiago Monteverde.
VKWC Venezuela male round 1 results:
Heat 1: Alex Pastor (ES) 39.2, Eudazio Da Silva (BR) 38.2, Alex Neto (BR) 35.4
Heat 2: Youri Zoon (NL) 35.9, Julien Leleu (FR) 31.1, Michael Schitzhofer (AT) 30.0
Heat 3: David Tonijuan Colomer (ES) 36.3, Marc Jacobs (NZ) 33.5, Oswald Smith (ZA) 30.7
Heat 4: Carlos Mario (BR) 46.2, Christophe Tack (BE) 41.1, Jerrie Van De Kop (NL) 32.7
Heat 5: Stefan Spiessberger (AT) 35.6, Reno Romeu (BR) 33.5, Yamil Saba (VE) 6.1
Heat 6: Aaron Hadlow (GB) 37.5, Ariel Corniel (DO) 23.7, Duglas Salazar (VE) 9.8
Heat 7: Sergei Borisov (RU) 34.7, Paul Serin (FR) 34.1, Robinson Hilario (DO) 32.1
Heat 8: Liam Whaley (ES) 40.1, Jerome Cloetens (BE) 36.0, Oscar Hurtado (VE) 19.9
VKWC Venezuela female round 1 results:
Heat 1: Hannah Whiteley (GB) 27.9, Gisela Pulido (ES) 12, Kristiin Oja (EE) 4.8
Heat 2: Bruna Kajiya (BR) 32.5, Annabel Van Westerop (AW) 28.7, Helena Brochocka (PL) 10.1
Heat 3: Paula Novotna (CZ) 34.7, Annelous Lammerts (NL) 29.1, Sophie Carache (VE) 1.
Heat 4: Karolina Winkowska (PL) 37.9, Dioneia Vieira (BR) 23.7, Maria Alejandra Gonzales (VE) 3.0
