LIVETICKER DAY 5 (GMT-3)
Current discipline: Women’s Freestyle
Judging Criteria: Pure freestyle (4 tricks from 4 different trick families count from 7 attempts. Riders take turns to perform one trick in a minute)
Format: Dingle elimination. Women’s semi-finals onwards
Wind: 16 – 18 knots / high tide in the morning. Riders on 11 and 12m kites
Note: Once the action starts, this liveticker automatically updates every couple of minutes if ticker is online!
Find all previous heat tricks and scores here.
Once the action is running, you’ll find the live heats, ladders and livestream by scrolling down this page.
Report: Jim Gaunt
The Superkite Brazil event has now finished. Full reports and video coming to the site soon.
12.50 – THE FINAL RESULT:
PIPPA VAN IERSEL (NED) / BRUNA KAJIYA (BRA) / RITA ARNAUS ((ESP) / MIKAILI SOL (BRA)
TRICK 01
Pippa would surely start with a trick she’s very comfortable with, likely to be a 313. She used pretty much all of her allowed 1.5 minutes, found a gust, took-off… crash.
Bruna meanwhile landed a very nice backside 313 but had to just drift the kite up a bit for some more trajectory in this lighter wind.
Rita completed a big 313 with a really nice extension. That was now 15 tricks landed in a row in this competition for the Spaniard.
Mikaili was last in the trick order as the top seed. She found a big kicker and started exactly as she did in the semis with a nice slim, going top after one trick each with a 7.83. Bruna was right on her tail in second.
TRICK 02
This time Pippa managed to accelerate in a gust and made the backside 313. She got caught up in a bit of chop on landing, but rode it out. Just a mid score of 5.1, but she was off the mark.
Bruna executed a beautiful slim chance; so stylish and paused nicely on the front roll rotation. She earned a 7.43 for that and moved into first with two riders still to take their second trick.
Rita – looked like the wind had suddenly picked up a bit but she held on and got a nice raley extension but just missed the bar on that 313.
Mikaili cruised out, tacked very relaxed, found a kicker and landed a small but very controlled back-to-wrapped (or hinterberger). Medium score for that but those 6.63 points moved her ahead of Bruna by one point.
TRICK 03
Pippa got a lot of pop and a big extension but just couldn’t hold and absorb the landing on a 313, this time on the inside.
Bruna found lots of speed on the inside, popped a super nice rotation on the S-bend rotation and just butt checked on the pass but the quality of the execution got her a 6.2 for that heart attack.
Rita went for a blind judge but fatally didn’t see the wave beyond her take-off that was coming into her landing zone. Crash.
Mikaili – effortless, textbook heart attack. 8.1 for that, higher than Bruna’s as there was no butt check, so she was out front by almost three points over Bruna after three tricks each.
TRICK 04
Pippa steamed in on the inside and landed that 313 on the inside that she had been looking for. Not the biggest or most critical, but no butt check and she needed that.
Bruna charged in towards shore again and stomped a huge back to blind, landing with the kite in the sweet spot. What a move! 8 points. That was a very good looking trick and kept the pressure on Mikaili.
Rita looking to get back in the heat, landed a solid hinterberger 3 on the inside with a good raley and good extension throughout that rotation.
Mikaili makes a full KGB, very clean, though the kite was perhaps a bit high, but no wobbles. 8.8 points for that and the already-World Champion extended her lead a little at the top to 3.7 over Bruna.
TRICK 05
Pippa signalled that she needed to change down to a smaller kite – a good sign that the wind was stronger.Now on her her 11m, she tacked out with just two tricks on the scoreboard, so she really needed to start putting a couple more big scores down. Once again tricking on the inside she landed a sweet hinterberger 3. A medium 5.8 score for that and she goes ahead of Rita.
Bruna landed a huge 315 on the outside that had a very tweaked raley with solid height and power, earning a big score: 7.27. She remained in second with Mikaili still to come on trick 5.
Rita, like Pippa, had just two tricks on the board. She pulled on a bit of depower as the wind was still picking up. The Spaniard went for a slim chance, got round nicely and made the pass but just went over the front on landing, her legs buckling under the pressure.
Mikaili cooly stomped a hinterberger 5 on the outside as if it was a walk in the park. Off the kicker, so much control. 9.47. Wow, talk about hammering home her advantage. 34.2 points overall with Bruna chasing her on 29.23.
TRICK 06
Pippa needing two huge scores now to have any chance of even getting second. She popped big off a kicker and went for a heart attack, but just didn’t quite get the bar in her hand behind her back on landing and was pulled over the front again.
Bruna again looking to favour a trick on the inside close to the beach. Patiently she tacked back and forth out the back waiting for a good section to line up. No, decides to switch kites – this will need to be quick – good pit stop from her caddy James Carew. Down to her ten metre, she heads inside again and lands a big heart attack, not quite the cleanest landing, but a powered kite and gets an 8.3. That improves her previous 6.2 on that trick, so her score improves.
Rita, on her 9m, needed a 4.35 to take third, lands a nice slim chance and gets 7.07. One trick to go and she pushed Pippa into fourth!
Mikaili pretty much has the heat sewn up, launches off the biggest kicker she could find but just had the bar ripped out of her hands on a grabbed slim attempt.
TRICK 07
Pippa can only achieve third as Bruna’s too far ahead in second. She needs 3.04 for third to put more pressure on Rita. Tacked back and forth, this was a big trick for her in the championship. Running out of time, she was forces into a moved on a dirty section in front of a wave, so not ideal and she just about held on to an s-bend to blind. She had to have her kite high to get over the wave, so it would be close. 3.17… she moves ahead of Rita but Rita only needs a 0.15 to beat Pippa now.
Bruna came charging in, took off and somehow a surfer had got into the area and she didn’t see him when she took off, had to bail her trick and looked to land on his board and took a nasty slice to her knee. He arm went up for assistance immediately and she looked in pain. The competition went on hold while she was brought in to the beach and sadly ended up being taken to hospital as that was a really deep gash, and hopefully no ligament damage.
Pippa had left the door open for Rita who only needed a 015, and she very nicely landed an s-bend for 1.5 points, confirming that she will take third here in Brazil.
Mikaili decided not to take her trick as it wasn’t necessary and she was pretty upset about what had just happened to Bruna.
In the end thankfully the injury to Bruna didn’t affect her second position and she couldn’t have caught Mikaili on her last trick. She had already put a very fine heat together with a big 31.33 score, but the World Champion Mikaili rightfully takes the last win of the season, just a week after she won the strapless freestyle event in the other GKA Kite World Tour discipline in Prea!
RESULT:
Sol: 34.2
Kajiya: 31.33
Arnaus: 20.6
van Iersel: 19.24
12.22 – Women’s final put on standby on the last round of tricks due to an injury to Bruna Kajiya.
11.40 – Action on – the final is underway!
11.22 – Next first possible start 11.30
11.08 –Wind has backed off again, so still on hold.
11.00 – Very close to a start for the final – looks like Rita’s taking her 10m Slingshot RPM, while Bruna’s on her 12m North Pulse. Wind around 17 knots.
The Final line-up: PIPPA VAN IERSEL (NED) / BRUNA KAJIYA (BRA) / RITA ARNAUS ((ESP) / MIKAILI SOL (BRA)
10.40 – SEMI-FINAL RESULT:
SF02: CLAUDIA LEON (ESP) / ESTEFANIA ROSA (BRA) / PIPPA VEN IERSEL (NED) / MIKAILI SOL (BRA)
This heat was cancelled after four tricks yesterday and has restarted from the beginning today. Pippa van Iersel is fighting for third position overall in the championship and she was bottom of the heat yesterday when it got cancelled, so she would be pleased to get another chance.
After two attempts to start the heat, eventually the wind filled in enough to get underway, but was still light at round 15 – 17 knots.
As the heat played out, Mikaili dominated from the start, nailing some really beautifully smooth tricks, including a kite low back mobe and a very well rhythm’d heart attack that scored a 9.
Pippa had three crashes put exerted pressure on Spaniard Claudia Leon throughout. The Dutch rider finished quite a way off Mikaili but managed to stack a pretty good score otherwise in these conditions, with backside 313 and heart attack frontside 3 keeping her ahead of Claudia.
Claudia won’t reach her third final of the season, but it’s been great year for the young Spaniard and she came close to qualifying on her last trick, landing a heart attack to wrapped, needing a 7.17, she got 6.37!
Estefania Rosa has proved herself the second best women’s freestyler in Brazil (behind Bruna) at this event. She reached the final last year, sadly just falling short this year, but some great passes both ways and her home town will be proud of her. The light conditions made it hard for her and she only managed two scores in this semi-final, but her other performances this week have been great. She has a great spirit, does a lot of work in the community here in Cumbuco and we look forward to seeing again!
RESULT:
Sol: 32.54
van Iersel: 23.37
Leon: 21.97 (out)
Rosa: 8.34
10.05 – Heat back on again!
09.45 – Sorry everyone, it’s one of those mornings at the moment. The heat got underway but after just two trick conditions were deemed unsuitable. There are just two more heats to run to complete the competition, so we’re only looking for an hour’s good wind. It’ll come. Hang in there with us!
09.40 – And we are on! Action rolling – hit play on the livestream below.
09.20 – Unfortunately wind not quite enough yet, so we’re back on hold.
09.10 – Start confirmed for 09.20
08.50 – Wind is 12 – 15 at the moment, next announcement 09.00, first possible start 09.15
08.45 – Good morning everyone on the final day of the Cumbuco event – the last event in the Freestyle season of the GKA Kite World Tour. Yesterday we only managed to complete one women’s semi-final, which saw Rita Arnaus and Bruna Kajiya progress to the final. Today we will re-start the second semi-final that was cancelled due to dropping winds:
SF02: CLAUDIA LEON (ESP) / ESTEFANIA ROSA (BRA) / PIPPA VEN IERSEL (NED) / MIKAILI SOL (BRA)
First possible start: 9am!
On completion of the women’s event, we will move into a best trick competition to close out this fantastic season!
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Read Friday’s liveticker notes here.
Read Thursday’s men’s final edited report here and full liveticker heat reports here.
Find Wednesday’s reports here.
Find day one liveticker notes here.