After an unbelievable nine days of solid action for both the Freestyle and Kite-Surf disciplines of the GKA Kite World Tour that were competing side by side in Bel Ombre, a beautiful closing ceremony, hosted by the Heritage C-Beach Club and Kite Globing officially crowned the winners on Sunday.
The competition ran hot and heavy for nine solid days, delivering one of the tightest finishes ever in the men’s Freestyle with Adeuri Corniel taking the win with the last trick of the event and by just 0.01 points over Valentin Rodriguez. Mikaili Sol recovered from a scare in her semi-final to dominate the final and increase her lead at the top of the championship.
In Kite-Surf, the reef at Bel Ombre was on fire all week and we saw heroes rise up and answer the call to shine. Airton Cozzolino proved unbeatable with a phenomenally wild and powerful approach in all angles of the waves and was joined by fellow barrel hunters, James Carew and Sebastian Ribeiro on the final podium – after Ribeiro completed a massive comeback in the double elimination.
In the women’s Kite-Surf local heroine Ninja Ricot performed a similarly impressive climb back up through seven heats to meet Jalou Langeree in the final, but Jalou was in a different class this event. Strapless Freestyle specialist Carla Herrera-Oria was pleased to reach the podium, a result that keeps her at the top of the championship!
Men’s Kite-Surf, left to right: 3rd Sebastian Ribeiro (BRA) / 1st Airton Cozzolino (CV) / 2nd James Carew (AUS)
Women’s Kite-Surf, left to right: 3rd Carla Herrera-Oria (ESP) / 1st Jalou Langeree (NED) / 2nd Ninja Ricot (MRU)
Men’s Freestyle, left to right: 3rd Liam Whaley (ESP) / 1st Adeuri Corniel (DR) / 2nd Valentin Rodriguez (COL)
Women’s Freestyle, left to right: 3rd Bruna Kajiya (BRA) / 1st Mikaili Sol (BRA) / 2nd Rita Arnaus (ESP)
SEASON STANDINGS:
In Kite-Surf leaders Airton Cozzolino and Carla Herrera maintain their leads, as does Mikaili Sol in the women’s Freestyle, but Adeuri Corniel is the new leader of the men’s freestyle division, pushing Maxime Chabloz into second, and Carlos Mario into third.
The next round for both disciplines begins in Dakhla: 4 8th October for Freestyle and 9 13th for Kite-Surf. Dakhla will be the final round for Freestyle, while the Kite-Surf riders move onto their final event at Prea in Brazil in November.