For the third day of competition up-and-coming talents were given their first clinic. World Kite Tour (WKT) Youth Cup is also a learning experience. Young talented kiteboarders are given advices and information to improve their performance during competition.

During the morning, judges explained how the scoring system works by detailing the trick categories and judging criteria. It’s relevant for future World Kite Tour generations to understand and be clear with rules and scoring system to perform their best.

They also received advice regarding behavior during heats and out of the water.

Later on, after the clinic, while waiting for the action to start, kids made the most of their time chilling on the beach. Wind picked up around 14:20 p.m. (GMT+2), allowing riders to finally get ready for their heats.
U17 quarterfinals saw Nino Liboni (FR) facing Lars de Groof (Bel) in an extremely close heat. Both riders came out strong, head to head, while spectators applauded each of the tricks they landed. The Belgium national did an amazing job but Liboni was slightly more technical and made the difference, advancing into the semifinal where he will fight his good friend Maxime Chabloz (Switzerland) – one of the toughest competitors of the championship.

The U15 quarterfinals continued with the Spaniard Kiko Peiro Mora (ES) against his mate Sebastian Ducos Sendra (ES). Both of them know the place very well and they train together, but Peiro could not match Duco’s level. The kid from Valencia put on a display of great tricks and advanced into the semifinal.

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In one of the U17 quarterfinals we saw local hero Iñaki Gainza (ES) against the french young talent Maxime Chabloz (Switzerland). On an 11 meter kite, Chabloz showcased impressive performance. Gainza was doing well with an 11 meter and got nervous after a few crashes. He lost time relaunching his kite and could not manage to land his usual moves allowing Chabloz to reach the semifinal final against Liboni.

Iñaki Gainza: “The conditions were great, I was on my favourite kite, the 11 meter and I landed nice tricks like a back mobe, but I had a few crashes that make me loose precious time. I am a bit sad because this is my home spot and I wanted to be at least in the final but sometimes you win sometimes you lose, it’s part of the game. I will train harder this year to be ready for the next event.

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Around 5:30 p.m. race director Eric Troostheide called off the competition due to insufficient winds, postponing all the finals as well as the double elimination for tomorrow since the forecast is looking much stronger for the next three days.
Riders’ meeting is scheduled at 9:30 a.m, this time the Clinic will be held in Spanish.

Pictures credits: Santi Font & Noe Font