LIVETICKER DAY 9 (of 10) – KITE-SURF DAY 4 (GMT+1)

Current discipline: Kite-Surf  (Freestyle was completed in the first 5 days of this double discipline event before we moved onto kite-surf on Wednesday)
Judging Criteria:  1 Freestyle trick and 2 best wave scores count 
Format: Double elimination. Due to smaller conditions, the format has changed to bring in some freestyle: riders get six attempts for a freestyle trick and 15 waves – the best freestyle trick and two best waves count 
Wind: 15 – 20 knots
Waves: The contest site has moved a little way downwind to take advantage of a playable shorebreak   

Note: This liveticker automatically updates every couple of minutes if ticker is online!
You’ll find the live heats and ladders by scrolling down this page and then scrolling right along the Men Kitesurf elimination ladder for the current situation 
If you want to see previous individual wave scores, click here and scroll all the way down to Mens Kitesurf 2

Report: Jim Gaunt
*As we’re now in the final stages we’re alternating between the men’s and women’s heats to give the riders rushing through heat after heat towards the podium a breather 

19.45 – WOMEN’S FINAL POSTPONED HALFWAY THROUGH AS THE WIND AND LIGHT FADE AWAY AT THE END OF THE DAY

WOMEN’S FINAL
Kirsty Jones (UK) V Carla Herrera-Oria (ESP) 

Kirsty has been a multiple world champion and is certainly a wave specialist as she showed earlier this week by winning the single elimination. Would her best wave scores be able to beat Carla’s wave and freestyle as Kirsty doesn’t have the freestyle speciality of Carla.

Kirsty registered a big 6.73 wave score on her second wave, and the highest of the women’s wave rides of the day. She also landed a straight air, gaining a small 1.21 points, but those could be crucial.

Carla doesn’t have the speed and flow of Kirsty who was riding frontside and the Spaniard had only two wave scores in the mid 2-point range. Carla has the upper hand in freestyle, but gives away her advantage in the waves. Remember two waves count compared to one freestyle trick, so commanding an advantage in the waves is more important.

At the halfway stage Kirsty was in the lead 10.77 to 8.24 – Carla having pulled her way back with a 3.5 scoring board-off.

The question will be if Carla could find a decent wave and then really work it to the best of her ability to catch up.

With 6 minutes to go, the AP Flag went up though and the heat went on hold due to dropping wind and light. Coming up to 7.45pm it was getting dark quickly.

And yes, that was it, the heat cancelled and the day over. The riders will have to come back and do it again on Sunday – the final day of the competition! We will also see Airton Cozzolino go up against Reece Myerscough and then the winner of that will face Mitu Monteiro in the final! 

19.35 – 
MEN’S ROUND 8, HEAT #33
Pedro Matos (BRA) V Airton Cozzolino (CV)
The battle for third and fourth position in the event. Airton’s fifth heat of the day. Pedro Matos has been so good at this event. He made his first ever podium in the single elimination and set his intent out here making it up to 20.13 points before the mid point in the heat!

Pedro’s first wave was amongst the highest of the day getting an 8.43 and soon after he landed his best freestyle trick – a toeside front roll getting 6.4. A decent 5.3 scoring wave had broken him through 20 points and that wave score looked like he would still have time to improve it.

Airton was close behind on 19 points thanks to his reliable back roll tic tac that has helped him through his rounds so far. The bronze light was silhouetting the riders, only adding to the drama and fittingly Airton flexed his unhooked muscles – a huge advantage that he has – once again into the high scores for another excellent backside 3. 8.5 points for that and he had a narrow lead: 21.33.

It would be a surf-off for the last few minutes as a clean set reared up.

Both riders got good waves, but Pedro’s 6.73 score put him 21.56 ahead of Airton’s 21.33. Two minutes to go…

Airton had tacked a long way out and was heading back in, giving himself the option of seeing how the swell he was on would form, he needed to improve his 5.73 wave… he worked it and worked it…

Both riders came into the beach and ran back upwind on the beach in the very golden light. Airton must be tired by now. They both headed out, surely just looking for a something. Airton found wave on the inside jack up and made a couple of smacks and then a little 360 off the foam on the inside.

Airton’s previous wave from before that was still be loaded in the scores… the judges were obviously thinking carefully. It was 6.87! Remember he’d needed to better his 5.73!

The buzzer blew as the harsh reality was read for the Brazilian.
AIRTON WINS: 22.6 to 21.97

19.15 – 
WOMEN’S ROUND 7 HEAT #18
Charlotte Carpentier (FRA) V Carla Herrera-Oria (ESP)
Frontside versus backside and the top two on tour. Charlotte only managed three scores – but that’s all that gets counted anyway… and her 5.37 air to blind was a big score! Good job she landed it! The French rider put up a good 12.54 score from those and Carla only just made it through in the end, with 12.86 – consistently with all three scores in the four point range, but so many more waves caught by the Spaniard. Highest freestyle score for her: tic tac.
CARLA WINS: 12.86 to 12.54

19.00 –
MEN’S ROUND 7 HEAT #32
James Carew (AUS) V Airton Cozzolino (CV)
Airton stepped up again for his fourth heat of the day (third back to back) against his good friend and team mate James Carew. These are the top two on tour, Airton first and James second, so as well as being a key battle at this event, it was a big one in terms of the championship. The scores were big. James managed to land his new trick this season – a toeside frontside 3 (like flat spin front roll from toeside) for a decent 4.53 points.
Airton meanwhile had the advantage at that point with a 6.93 big back roll tictac and a 7 point wave ride.
James upped his wave game with a 5.87 ride but then put all of his brute strength and great timing into absolutely destroying section after section of a long wave that kept re-forming, giving him a huge 8.27 score. He’d got within a small sniffing distance and turned to head back out, only to see Airton heading out just in front of him. The Cape Verdean saw a nice vertical kicker, unhooked and launched that famous and perfect backside 3, landing smoothly, kite low and powered. A massive 8.83 points was his reward! He also had a 7.07 and 6.86 wave ride to add to that score, giving him a sensational 22.76 points.
James’s heat score himself was fantastic at 19.77, but in the end Airton goes through but still has to beat Pedro Matos and then he has that re-match against Reece Myerscough who beat him in the single elimination quarter finals. And only if he beats both of them will he get to face Mitu Monteiro in the final. And as the challenger, he has to beat him twice to win the event. TOUGH!
AIRTON WINS: 22.76 to 19.77.

WOMEN’S HEAT 17
Catharina Edin (SWE) V Carla Herrera-Oria (ESP)
A very close battle up until around 3/4 duration when Carla was able to find a tic tac and front roll board-off which took her beyond the reach of Catharina. The Swede had been doing well riding frontside compared to Carla on her backhand, and indeed had the highest wave score of 4.87 on her second ride. Carla however has the bit between her teeth as tour leader and knew that they were close on wave rides and if she could land one of her good freestyle moves, as she did, the win would be hers.
CARLA WINS: 11.97 to 9.54

MEN’S ROUND 6 HEAT #31
Simon Joosten (BAR) V Airton Cozzolino (CV)
Simon absolutely took the fight to Airton and after one trick attempt got a 6.04 back roll transition and then an even better kite loop back roll that gave him a 6.52.
Airton’s own back roll tictac had got a 6.07…so could Simon now find another advantage in the waves?

Lots of little wave rides were scored for each rider, but a rebound off the beach in this heat was making things really lumpy on the inside.

Airton had a slight lead with two better wave scores in the five point range giving him an overall score, including his freestyle trick, of 16.87 to Simon’s 14.02.

Suddenly with five minutes to go some relatively big wave lines started to come in. Simon hooked into the first and made three turns before falling over the front on his fourth. Airton on the wave behind made no mistake and drove his fins hard out the back of the lip on every turn, improving his best wave score to 6.73. Another six point ride on his next wave upped his score even higher.

Simon found a few more waves and managed to release the tail several times but couldn’t match the power and pace of Airton’s relentless wave attack. Airton said his ankle is feeling good without pain and he’s here to win!
AIRTON WINS: 19.03 to 14.02

WOMEN’S HEAT #16
Peri Roberts (AUS) V Carla Herrera-Oria
A brief interlude while the men catch their breath saw a very important heat for Carla Herrera-Oria who lost her round one heat in the women’s single elimination against eventual winner, Welsh Kirsty Jones who has entered this event as a wildcard as she now lives here.
Carla managed to overcome Peri Roberts, a really capable wave rider from Australia who is improving with every event. Peri only managed to register a straight air freestyle trick, while Carla’s more of a freestyle specialist and got a higher scoring 4.75 for a back roll board off, so the Spaniard and current tour leader was through. Carla will continue to to make up for what she said was a very frustrating loss earlier in the week.
CARLA WINS: 14.16 to 12.38 

17.45 –
Round 5
30B: Keahi de Aboitiz (AUS) V Airton Cozzolino (CV)
So this would usually be a final, but having both been knocked out unusually early in the single eliminations, these champions found themselves re-entering the double elimination already with lots of work to do to make it up to the final heats. 

Airton struck early and with more ferocity. The different wave approaches would be evident here: Airton explosive, like a dog after a bone at times, whereas Keahi never veers from his loose and fluid, constant style.

Back roll tictac to switch stance on the way out for Airton was landed really well, he looked pleased with it, knowing that Keahi isn’t as keen on freestyle moves. We’d seen Keahi go for a few double shuvits so far today but without success. It is quite an innovative trick, so he knows it’ll score well if he lands it. The Australian had a front roll for 3.97 points, so he had a move on the board, but he’d need better.

Keahi also made a nice full wave 360 in pocket section of a decent wave, a really sweet move, but sadly was the only move on that wave…

Scores remained close halfway through: 15.61 to 14.07 in Airton’s favour – the 6.6 freestyle move looking like it would make the difference between the two riders as Keahi was just edging it in his wave scores by a small margin, having broken into the 5 point range on his fourth wave.

As the wind built Airton tried a backroll tic tac kite loop out the back in front of Keahi, but it didn’t improve his previous 6.6 trick.

Both riders managed to score good waves in the last set of the heat however. Airton improved his wave score with two waves in that set – 5.83 and 7.6 taking him up to 20.03 overall.

We all held our breath as Keahi finally managed to land the double shuvit right at the end. Typical Keahi. Would it be the winner? He butt checked it, so was only worth 5.83 when the score dropped… which put him on 18.2. A great tally, but just loses out to Airton on 20.03.
AIRTON WINS: 20.03 to 18.2

17.30 –
Round 5
30A: Simon Joosten (BAR) V Jan Marcos Riveras (complete)
Blonde dreadlocks versus black dreadlocks here! In truth this was a similar match-up in many ways between two fluid and smooth riders and two riders who are big fans of the back roll kite loop freestyle trick variation. The set waves were a little more scarce in this heat, so both riders scraped around keenly looking for whatever faces they could make work. Wave wise they were both very even with their best scores only in the three-point range, but it was the 6.03 back roll tic tack for Simon that made the difference for his freestyle trick; Jan Marcos getting just 4.67 for the same trick.
SIMON WINS: 14.66 to 12.4 

Men’s Round 5:
30A: Simon Joosten (BAR) V Jan Marcos Riveras (complete)
30B: Keahi de Aboitiz (AUS) V Airton Cozzolino (CV) (complete)

17.10 – Round 4 results: 
29B: Charly Martin (FRA) V Airton Cozzolino (CV)
Typically aggressive heat from Airton, especially so when he’s seeking revenge for being knocked out in the single elimination quarter finals against Reece Myerscough yesterday. Loads of combos from him, including a super impressive wave 360, pushing the tail of his board through the lip and continuing all the way round in the critical section. Had that move been combined within a longer wave ride it would surely have been rewarded with better than the 5.6 that particular wave was scored. Overall his wave and freestyle combinations were too much for the young 14 year old French rider from Reunion. He found the biggest wave of the heat close to the end, and got a 7.53, pushing him up to a 20.43 total. Airton’s best freestyle trick: back roll tictac for 6.27 points. Highest heat score of the day for the Cape Verdean and current champ. Up next for him: Keahi de Aboitiz!
AIRTON WINS: 20.43 to 13.8

16.50 – 
29A: Nicola Abadjiev (BUL) V Keahi de Aboitiz (AUS)
A big scoring heat was already in the offing from multiple world champion Keahi de Aboitiz who was up to 15.7 points off just two waves. He still had a freestyle trick to add, so was to finish on the highest score of the day. A toeside air 3 for 3.5 points put him on 19.2 points with more than half the heat still to go.
What was so impressive about the Australian’s wave riding is the way he uses his kite to assist his wave riding; but not to totally power it. Some of his laybacks were so radical it was hard to believe that he made it back to his feet, but somehow he’d loop the kite while almost underwater. This is shaping up to be a surprisingly good afternoon given the small conditions.
Nicola had a few good waves and managed some airs of the lip, but couldn’t find the multiple combos and constant rhythm of Keahi.
KEAHI WINS: 19.7 to 11.79

16.35 – 
28B: Jan Marcos Riveras (DR) V Oscar Perrineau (FRA)
Jan Marcos once again looking like he’s really enjoying these combined freestyle / wave conditions. The reality is that the guys are riding a shore break that you couldn’t really surf, but the utility of a kite can make anything possible. Combine that with some boosty rotation tricks on the way out and this is exactly why kitesurfing is becoming so popular – because you can make the most of the conditions in front of you on the day. Jan Marcos a great example of how much fun these conditions can be and took a convincing win over the young French rider who didn’t really have the freestyle trick arsenal or wave count to match the Dominican.
JAN MARCOS WINS: 15.4 to 9.54

16.20 –
28A: Simon Joosten (BAR) V Anderson Reboucas (BRA)
The tide dropped back a critical amount during this heat and we saw the waves pitch a little further from the beach making it easier for more turns. The wind also picked up another notch, too. A good heat this and very tight with Simon eventually going through by a very narrow margin. The Barbadian’s greater freestyle experience paying off with his signature back roll kite loop board off as smooth as ever while his two best wave scores were only in the fours, but combined as a three score tally of 15.31. Props to Anderson though, making the most of his backside riding, but also landing the highest freestyle trick score of the day so far with 6.67 for an unhooked backside 360! 
SIMON WINS: 15.31 to 14.32

Men’s Round 4 heats 
28A: Simon Joosten (BAR) V Anderson Reboucas (BRA) – (complete)
28B: Jan Marcos Riveras (DR) V Oscar Perrineau (FRA) – (complete)
29A: Nicola Abadjiev (BUL) V Keahi de Aboitiz (AUS) – (complete)
29B: Charly Martin (FRA) V Airton Cozzolino (CV)

16.00 – 
27B: Charly Martin (FRA) V Med Ali Beqqali (MOR)
14 year old Charly Martin from Reunion island held the advantage throughout most of the heat, largely thanks to finding the best wave of the heat on his very first ride, scoring a 6.2, which is high by today’s standards. Neither of these riders specialist in freestyle but both landed good front rolls and it came down to a race to find good waves at the end of the heat. Local Beqqali showed a really good and flowing surfstyle on the inside and caught up to within almost a point late in the heat with his last two waves, but just ran out of time in the end. Charly’s bigger front roll alongside his commanding advantage from the first wave took him through. 
CHARLY WINS: 14.91 to 13.52

13.35 – 
27A: Luke Millard (AUS) V Nicola Abadjiev (BUL)
The wave opportunities were a little less in this heat but Bulgarian Nicola got his nose in front from the start and stayed there, although Luke really tightened up the score at the end finding a workable wave. Nicola made more of the turns he was able to find on the inside and a toeside air 3 getting just an average score of 3.33 gave him the win. 
NICOLA WINS: 11.23 to 10.89

15.15 – 
26B: Jan Marcos Riveras (DR) V Toni Cilliberto (ITA)
Adjustment in the format looks to very much suit Jan Marcos Riveras – the Dominican came off the water and said the conditions are definitely improving and more fun now with the addition of freestyle. A backroll tictac Jan Marcos’ best trick earning 5.43 was combined with his two best waves of a ver impressive 6.6 on his first run and a 4.4 later saw him through quite comfortably over Toni Cilliberto. 
JAN MARCOS WINS: 16.43 to 12.01

14.45
26A: Simon Joosten (BAR) V Graham Harney (AUS)
Could immediately see the benefit of bringing in the extra strapless freestyle factor in terms of the entertainment in the heat. Lots of little wave turns on the shore break and also plenty of tricks. But just two waves and one trick counting. Very close into the last minute, 16.1 to Simon and 15.65 for Graham – though Graham had the highest wave score…
SIMON WINS: 16.1 to 15.65

14.40 – FORMAT CHANGE: 2 waves (max 15 attempts) and 1 trick (max 6 attempts) counting. 18 minute heat, 2 min transition.

Round 3 heats:
26A: Simon Joosten (BAR) V Graham Harney (AUS) (complete)
26B: Jan Marcos Riveras (DR) V Toni Cilliberto (ITA) (complete)
27A: Luke Millard (AUS) V Nicola Abadjiev (BUL) (complete)
27B: Charly Martin (FRA) V Med Ali Beqqali (MOR) (complete)

11.55 – The competition has just been put on hold due to a drop in conditions halfway through the first heat of round three between Barbadian Simon Joosten and Canadian Graham Harney.

11.45 – Livestream commentator Jo Ciastula is joined by number two ranked rider James Carew from Australia, who finished fourth in the single elimination yesterday. 

11.30 – Livestream is now on – scroll down to watch it. 

10.30 – As you can see below, the round 2 double elimination heats have begun. Scroll down for the current live heat score and below that for the elimination ladder. When there are four riders on the water, the heats are split into two halves, A & B, with man on man scoring. In this heat Donat is riding against Joosten, while Roig competes against Harney. We will update you when we’re ready to launch the livestream. 

10.15 – Just a note that the livestream won’t be starting with the first heats of the day. We’ll be re-joining the action on the livestream as we approach the later heats in the day. As usual, we’ll keep you posted. 

10.05 – First possible start delayed to 10.15

09.50 – Morning everyone, we’re awaiting a possible re-start for the double eliminations at around 10am… 

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Find Friday’s liveticker heat notes here.
Find Thursday’s liveticker heat notes here.
Find day one kite-surf liveticker information here.