Gran Canaria Windsurf World Cup crowns Daida Ruano and Philip Köster

by Tamara Ventura 18 Jul 2022 16:54 BST

Daida keeps the crown in Pozo Izquierdo - Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Championship 2022 © Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Cup

It seems that Pozo Izquierdo had reserved the wind gusts for the last day of competition at the Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Championship, hovering around 37 knots, which has allowed the double elimination of both the men's and women's divisions to be completed in a single day.

Daida Moreno, the queen of Pozo, kept her crown and the Spanish victory in the women's division after defeating her sister, Iballa, twice and the world's first, while the German-flagged Canarian, Philip Köster, remained unbeatable.
The awards ceremony was attended by the three times world motorcycling champion, Dani Pedrosa, a windsurfing enthusiast.

Thanks to this second round, Daida Ruano, the "queen of Pozo", kept her crown after beating her sister, Iballa, during the final of the double elimination and, again, in the absolute final for dominating in Pozo Izquierdo, a beach where Iballa has only managed to beat Daida twice. "It's been almost three years of hiatus, I'm super happy that this event is back with all the world scene we have, happy to be able to enjoy the water today, happy to have my son here with me, although we will see each other next year," said Daida, who also congratulated Björn Dunkerbeck for the organisation.

Philip Köster in action at Pozo Izquierdo - Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Championship 2022 - photo © Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Cup

Iballa was also "very happy", despite the fact that "Daida took the candy out of my mouth today, but she is the queen of Pozo", she said during the awards ceremony, which was attended by the Minister of Sports of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Francisco Castellano, and the Mayor of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Francisco García, among other authorities, as well as well-known personalities such as Dani Pedrosa, who said he was "very happy to be here and to see a [windsurfing] competition live", as "I always watch them on the internet or on TV, so seeing it live has been fantastic, especially the contact with the people and the athletes, as well as the conditions being very good", said Pedrosa, a three-time world motorcycling champion and windsurfing enthusiast.

The stands of Pozo Izquierdo have returned to acclaim two of their best athletes, the "Moreno Twins", after witnessing a final between sisters with very difficult conditions to find a ramp in the waves and a lot of wind, which prevented the manoeuvres from landing well. The most awaited final started with both sisters trying to make their way through the backloops. Although Iballa won initially with a forward loop, Daida excelled during the final against her sister with a well scored one-handed backloop, followed by multiple manoeuvres highly valued by the judges, such as a great forward loop and a tabletop forward, equalling scores.

Marino Gil, from Gran Canaria, stood out in the day's proceedings. - Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Championship 2022 - photo © Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Cup

With only three minutes left, Daida took a 0.98-point lead thanks to a clean backloop, closing the heat with an elegant "Oh backloop", according to the commentators. During the double elimination, Daida again defeated the first in the world, Sarah-Quita Offringa from Aruba, a heat in which the "queen of Pozo" did not stop attacking with multiple manoeuvres that the judges did not stop commenting on, such as a frontside air 360. Daida was also crowned the highest-flying rider, according to Red Bull's The Surfers app, thanks to a six-metre-high jump.

In the men's division, Canarian Philip Köster (competing for Germany) remained unbeatable after sweeping the single and double heats, beating all other competitors by a wide margin. According to the commentators, Köster seemed "very relaxed" during all his heats, performing very difficult manoeuvres despite the conditions, "as if he had no trouble at all". During the final with Brazil's Marcilio "brawzinho" Browne, Köster again started strong, with an opening jump that "literally went off the streaming screen," said Ben Proffitt, commentator for the Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA). The local Vargas rider was once again on fire from the moment he took to the water, landing two good jumps (8.88 points each) from the start, followed by a 9.25 pushloop forward. The crowd applauded him, though, especially after a 7.1-metre stalled double. "I'm very happy to have won and to compete in good conditions again, and Pozo never fails, so we hope to be back next year," said Köster.

Liam Dunkerbeck wins the U20 crown - Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Championship 2022 - photo © Gran Canaria Windsurfing World Cup

Thanks to the double elimination, Browne managed to come from behind with six incredible runs to take second place on the podium, a spot he snatched from Andalusian, Victor Fernandez, while the other big favourite, Brazil's Ricardo Campello (competing for Venezuela), missed out on the chance to climb the podium. During the final against Köster, Browne wasn't so lucky in the jumps, but he did have a great time while wave riding. "I'm very happy, the emotions during the competition included a lot of ups and downs and even though I didn't feel great this morning, I can't believe I made it to the podium, the level was very high," said Browne during the awards ceremony. For Fernández, who followed in third place, it was also "incredible to be with two great competitors and friends". The Spanish rider was also the highest-flying windsurfer, with an 8.9-metre-high jump to win The Red Bull Rockets simultaneous competition.

Canarian windsurfing's quarry promises diamonds

During this second elimination round, Pozo Izquierdo has once again seen promising young windsurfers proving to be at the same level as the veterans. This has been the case of the local rider, Marino Gil, who managed to reach the last elimination round with his partner, Liam Dunkerbeck, in which they have faced each other. On this occasion, it was Marino Gil who advanced together with Brazilian Marcilio Browne (two-time world champion) to the final round, where the four best riders from the podium of the single elimination rounds awaited, a great achievement for the young Canary Islanders. Already among the best in the world, the original windsurfer from Agüimes did not get a ramp in the waves to launch a good jump, while Brawzinho got the highest possible score in a jump: ten points. "It was really good, I had a lot of fun and I'm happy to have made it this far," said Gil.

Among the junior podium places, several Canarian sailors occupied the top positions in different categories, such as the Gran Canarian Liam Dunkerbeck in the U20 male class or Alexia Kiefer in the U20 female class, although competing for Germany. Among the under 17s, Tenerife's María Morales was crowned in the women's U17 category, while Carlos Kiefer from Gran Canaria won third place in the class for Germany. Among the youngest, Javier Escribano from Tarifa took a creditable third place (U15).