Tenerife PWA Day 4

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Day 4 turned out to be the best day yet of the 2016 Tenerife PWA World Cup, despite some people thinking today may not be windy. At times the breeze reached Pozo levels of windy, while waves up to logo high consistently rolled into El Cabezo to make for an amazing competition arena. However, with the South swell properly hitting today wave selection was just as important, if not more important than yesterday. The action on the water went to another scale throughout the double eliminations and Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) produced the perfect comeback to break back into the top 2, while Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) sailed to his absolute, brilliant best, to fight back to 3rd — before fatigue struck to force his withdrawal from the double. Women’s Double Elimination Amanda Beenen (99NoveNove / Point-7) ended Alice Arutkin’s (Fanatic / NorthSails) comeback through the double before striking in the dying minutes of the heat to defeat Lina Erpenstein (Patrik / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) — who had impressed throughout the day with her wave riding and no fear approach. Beenen then met an on song Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who stopped her in her tracks with a combination of perfect pushloops, stalled forwards and powerful wave riding.  Having defended her 4th place finish from the single, Offringa, was left with the ominous task of facing Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who suffered a surprise exit to Steffi Wahl (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) in the single elimination. However, today Daida was back to her very best and left nothing to chance as she took down Offringa with an aerial masterclass. On her way to victory the multiple-time world champion executed some excellent wave riding, but it was her jumping display that really stole the show as she landed an absolutely monstrous stalled forward — which is possibly the highest jump ever landed in women’s fleet — to earn perfect 10s from the judges, which ended Offringa’s campaign here in Tenerife despite an excellent showing. Daida then faced Steffi Wahl and she managed to exact revenge for her single elimination defeat. Daida made a storming start to the heat, but Wahl gradually ate into her lead with her dynamic wave riding once again scoring well. However, she couldn’t quite overturn the total set by Daida, who produced the perfect comeback to setup another all Moreno twins final tomorrow — with Daida looking to win a 4th consecutive title here, while Iballa is looking to win here for the first time since 2012. Men’s  Double Elimination Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) was a man on an absolute mission today and unfortunately for teammates — Dieter Van der Eyken and Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne) —  they were the first men to be standing in his way as he began his demolition job with a combination of trademark ankle dry double forwards, pushloop forwards and anything from frontside 3s, to huge hacks and one-handed goiters on the wave as the reigning world champion appeared to be able to do whatever he wanted at will.  Köster’s scintillating form, which was an absolute joy to watch, would then see him dispatch of Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / SWOX) — who produced the 2nd highest scoring heat of the day and his highest total ever in a heat with a huge pushloop forward being one of the moves of the day — Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) and Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD) to deservedly march into the top 3. At this point the 22 year old was on an unbelievable run with momentum and adrenaline well and truly running in his favour and he faced Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC / Shamal Sunglasses) in what would prove to be the final heat of the day. Köster, made a flying start to the heat as he landed another brilliant double forward, but unfortunately sailing all day had taken its toll by this point as he was forced to pull up injured. Their was major concern with the 3-time world champion stranded on the inside and looking in a considerable amount of pain, but thankfully it turned out to be ‘just’ cramp rather than something more serious. However, there was no way he could continue, so it will be Fernandez who faces Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) in tomorrow’s final and you can take nothing away from the Spaniard, who appeared to be in superb form again. Close Calls In the heat prior to racking up his highest score ever — 34 points — Robby Swift was involved in the closest heat of the day against Dany Bruch (Starboard / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Sunglasses), which saw just 0.07 of a point separate the two of them come the end of the heat. The Brit had a fantastic heat in the waves as he landed super fluid takas and frontside airs, while Bruch produced possibly the best jumping display of his life with a huge double forward and a massive one-footed backloop. However, for a change Bruch couldn’t connect with his waves, which saw him agonisingly miss out.  Move of the Day Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) landed the move of the day as he landed an absolutely incredible pushloop forward to earn 11 points. However, Campello, then couldn’t land either the wave score he needed or find a second jump and eventually lost out to Dany Bruch, despite his moment of magic.  After an absolutely epic day of competition tomorrow is all set for Finals Day with a solid looking forecast, which holds the potential for even more wind and bigger waves. Make sure you stay tuned in to www.pwaworldtour.com from 10:30am (GMT+1) onwards to see whether Iballa or Daida Moreno come out on top in the women’s and to see whether Marcilio Browne can win in Tenerife for the first time by holding off Victor Fernandez. The first possible start for tomorrow is 11am (GMT+1) To see all the latest from the event — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.