| Marcilio Browne wins Freestyle PWA Fuerteventura |
| Thursday, 31 July 2008 09:07 |
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Entering the final day of competition, the top positions in both the men’s and women’s fleets had already been decided upon, after Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde) dominated the first two eliminations, making them effectively untouchable. However, in both fleets the remaining positions on the podium were wide open, with the subsequent third double elimination proving crucial for all involved. In the men’s elimination, Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra) had given himself the most work to do if he wanted to bag a place on the podium. He started his assault six heats back from the final, by beating Anthony Ruenes (Tabou, Gaastra). Gaining momentum and looking evermore dangerous, Normen Gunzlein (JP, NeilPryde) and Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde, MFC) were Thode’s next victims, before he sat on a collision course with Ricardo Campello, who had his sights firmly set on second position in the event. When crunch time came, it was Thode who was packing the biggest blows. A barrage of air funnels and super slick triple spocks had Campello on the back foot, and some costly falls form Campello eventually awarded Thode the victory. Campello had still done enough to claim a podium position in third overall. Moving onto challenge fellow Bonaire freestyler, Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra), Thode continued to lay down his flowing repertoire of sliding moves, and dizzying rotations, but came up against a brick wall. A monster flaka and immense air chachoo from Frans helped sway the judges decision his way. One step away from the final, Frans squared up to the current freestyle world champion, Browne. The heat was off the scale, as the fiercely competitive duo threw all they had at each other. Frans’ downfall would come when his concentration lapsed, and he left his score sheet one move short. The error was punished by Browne, who progressed to line up against Estredo (Fanatic, North, MFC) in the decisive last heat of the day. Final time, and Estredo drew the first blood with a towering air flaka, accompanied by a colossal air chachoo. Browne didn’t let Estredo’s aerial antics distract him, throwing down an assertive mix of an air chachoo, a misty flip, and a burner. Defiant Estredo shunned Brown’s attack, nailing a perfectly rotated air funnel 540, alongside a mix of freestyles most explosive moves. A spate of falls from Browne towards the end of the heat proved to be critical. All too aware of the implications, Browne left the water with his head down. Estredo knew he’d done enough to win the heat, and claim second place overall for the event. Despite Browne’s loss, he still topped the event standings, and sits second overall for the 2008 season. In the women’s fleet, Iballa Moreno (North) put an end to Nayra Alonso’s (Fanatic Severne) elimination run, before she dropped out of contention courtesy of Junko Nagoshi’s (Simmer, Dakine) tactical sailing. Nagoshi then had her wits tested in a duel with Daida Moreno (North). The Japanese freestyler started the heat well, landing a forward loop and a flaka, but repeated moves on the same tack took their toll on her score sheet. Moreno was left free to advance thanks to a varied and higher scoring run that included a super clean goiter. Moreno’s last hurdle before meeting Offringa in the final was Laura Treboux (Fanatic, North). Treboux wasted no time and quickly seized the early lead, landing a fully planning grubby right by the beach, and a spock on the outside. Much to Moreno’s advantage, the waves then started to roll in, allowing her to land a massive forward loop, a shaka, and an awesome one handed goiter on the inside, which awarded her crucial points, and ultimately her ticket to challenge Offringa in the final. Regardless of the outcome of the final, Offringa and Moreno had done enough to secure first and second position respectively, meaning the ensuing bout was going to be a battle of pride alone. Hungry to continue her unbeaten run, Offringa launched into her usual assault of funnels, switch chachoos and air flakas. Opting for higher aerial moves, Moreno threw forward loops on both tacks, and her usual slick goiter on the inside. Despite a spirited performance from Moreno, she failed to match Offringa’s depth and technicality. Maintaining her perfect run of first place finishes; Offringa added one more victory to her tally, extending her unprecedented run for the 2008 season. The 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Men’s Freestyle Results: 1st Marcilio Browne Overall Men’s Results for the 2008 season so far: 1st Jose Estredo The 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Women’s Freestyle Results: 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa Overall Women’s Results for the 2008 season so far: 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa
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