The wind and waves show up at El Médano on the Windsurfing World Cup’s return to Tenerife

The PWA show returned to Tenerife.

Day one of competition at El Médano decided the quarter-finals.

The second event of the PWA Windsurfing Wave World Cup, which is taking place in El Médano, on the coast of Tenerife, kicked-off this Thursday, after which the single qualifiers men’s and women’s quarter-finals were announced.

After 5 hours and a half of competition, with the wind blowing regularly at around 25 miles per hour and with waves of over 3 feet, the four confrontations that will take place this Friday in the men’s category were announced: Darío Ojeda (E-211) – Kauli Seadi (BRA-253), Robby Swift (K-89) – Philip Köster (G-44), Daniel Bruch (G-1181) – Ross Williams (GBR-83) and Jaeger Stone (KA-120) – Víctor Fernández (E-42).

Significant names such as Venezuelan rider and current world runner-up Ricardo Campello, eliminated by Williams, and local rider Álex Mussolini, defeated by Stone, were left out of the final heats.

It is not the case with the sensation of this season after he won the first event of Pozo Izquierdo. 17 year old German rider Philip Köster, who lives in Gran Canaria, continues in the competition and has come to “win again.” “I really like the conditions of El Médano, because the wave is longer and tidier than that of Pozo Izquierdo, and the slanted wind allows us to surf better,” he said.

The women had to wait until last thing in the afternoon, when the single qualifiers started and the four confrontations for this Friday were announced: Eva Oude Ophuis (H-99) – Karin Jaggi (Z-14), Laure Treboux (SUI-4) – Iballa Ruano (E-63), Evi Tsape (GR-2) – Nayra Alonso (E-4) y Fanny Aubet (FRA-809) – Daida Ruano (E-64).

In fact, one of the main attractions of the PWA World Cup-PlanetWin365 El Médano Tenerife 2011 is the presence of the Ruano sisters, from Gran Canaria. They could not compete, though, since they were exempt from the first qualifying rounds because of their ranking, and since the heats were postponed until Friday.

World champion and current number one, Daida Ruano, admitted that the conditions of El Médano suited those whose strong point is sailing. “In this second event of El Cabezo how you ride the wave will score more than the jumps themselves,” she pointed out.

The riders are expected to arrive at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, when the quarter-finals will start, and presumably they will find better wind and wave conditions than those of Thursday.

The PWA World Cup-PlanetWin365 El Médano Tenerife 2011 is organised by Club de Windsurf DB and sponsored by the Tourism and Sports Department of the Town Hall of Granadilla de Abona, Tourism of Tenerife, the Government of the Canary Islands, PlanetWin365, Cabezo Surf Shop, Arenas del Mar, Sheraton La Caleta and Renault. Ashotel, Viajes Zipango, Fuente Alta, CocaCola, Multieducacional, Amarilla Golf and the Canarian Sailing Federation also collaborate in the event.