PKRA New Caledonia Day 1

The wind was on in full force today in Pointe Magnin, Noumea. Riders pumped up their smallest kites, mostly 7m for the competition today.#

The mandatory riders meeting started at 10:00 am at the beach with a lot of local riders making up the large number of professional athletes that registered for the event. The first round saw most of the local riders taking on each other for a chance at going into the second round against the top seeded players. In the first round of men’s heats, Julien Kerneur (Takoon, FRA) defeated Enzo Todiello (Ozone, FRA) leading him into the second round against Brazilian rider Reno Romeu (North, BRA). Romeu eliminated Kerneur in the second round and will also move on to the third round of heats tomorrow against Youri Zoon (Slingshot, NED). Zoon was on top of his game today defeating Torrin Bright (Ozone, NZL) in the second round due to his intense riding style. Alexandre Bournay (Naish, ESP) defeated Michael Siret (Slingshot, FRA) in the first round of heats however was eliminated in the second round by local hero Tom Hebert (Airush, NCL) who was more than comfortable on his home turf. Hebert will move on to the third round against one of the PKRA world title contenders, Alex Pastor (Airush, ESP) who defeated Australian competitor Simon Whichterman (Airush, AUS) in the second round moving him up the ladder. Marc Jacobs (Airush, NZL) had an overall successful day defeated Sebastien Nguyen (Slingshot, FRA) in the first round and Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA) in the second round leading him into the third round against Alberto Rondina (Cabrinha, ITA). Mario Rodwald (North, GER) defeated Forrest Bakker (Flexifoil, FRA) in the second round today and will move on to compete against the current PKRA tour leader Andy Yates (Slingshot, AUS). It was an exciting final men’s single elimination heat today as rider Michael Dinclaux (Takoon, FRA) gave Yates a run for his money. Dinclaux rode with intense power, great executions and style however crashed into Yates causing him to be disqualified enabling Yates to move on to the third round which will commence tomorrow.

In the women’s freestyle single elimination division, Bruna Kajiya (Flexifoil, BRA) kicked off the womens series by defeating local rider Noemie Le Bouteipper (Ozone, FRA) leading her into the third round against Karolina Winkowska (Slingshot, POL). The second women’s heat of the day was United Kingdom beauty Johara Sykes-Davies (Flexifoil, GBR) against local rider Nina Cavalie (Liquid Force, FRA). Sykes-Davies defeated Cavalie in the second round and will move on to the third round tomorrow against the current tour leader Gisela Pulido (Airush, ESP).

Tomorrow’s mandatory skippers meeting is set for 8:30am.

The Teri Kitesurf Pro 2010 was made possible in part by the Kiteboarding League of New Caledonia, LVLNC with official partners Orangina, Le Meridien, Nissan, Teri and SeaDoo with special support from NRJ, Air France, RFO Nouvelle Caledonie and Total.