| GRAN CANARIA-(30-6-2003) The tension mounts here in Gran Canaria as the second men’s freestyle Dingle elimination progressed towards its final stages today. With lighter gusty winds on the agenda this morning 20 heats were completed before the wind eventually dropped below the standards required for official competition. With the stakes set high here in Gran Canaria the pressure on the top seeds is building with a solid result in each round required for the much sought after podium positions.
The Dingle elimination format which is being used for the men’s freestyle here in Gran Canaria, means the winners of the first round automatically go straight through to the third round whilst those in second and third have to fight it out on a sudden death basis to stay in the elimination.
Current leader Ricardo Campello (JP, Neil Pryde) advanced comfortably straight though to the third round after cruising through his heat against Dutch sailor Remko De Weerd (Gaastra, Fanatic) and Yann Sorlut of France. Also advancing without a hitch was Tonky Frans (Gaastra, AHD), yesterday’s runner up and third and fourth finishers Kauli Seadi (AHD, Naish) and Christian Sammer (F2, Arrows).
It was a different story for current overall freestyle champion Matt Pritchard (Gaastra) who finished second in his opening heat up against Victor Fernandez (Fanatic) and Mariano Estivill (Arrows). With local hot shot, Victor Fernandez taking the victory, Pritchard will now have to go the hard way and sail an extra heat against John Hibbard (Starboard) of England in order to advance into the third round.
Also failing to advance this morning was ex world freestyle champion Antoine Albeau (AHD, Neil Pryde) of France. Albeau, who weighs 90kgs, is much more at home in stronger winds and struggled to take second place in his opening heat which was won by lightweight Colin Sifferlen (Starboard) of New Caledonia. Albeau managed to fight back though his second round heat against Martin Van Geenhoven (North) but now faces a tough draw against fellow AHD teammate Taty Frans in the third round. Both sailors finished in equal 5th yesterday so their next heat will be hugely important towards their podium chances.
There are some other interesting line ups in the third round on standby with the most exciting probably the battle between Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde) of England and local wild flyer Jonas Ceballos (Fanatic, Gaastra). Swift and Ceballos are two of the hottest young guns on the PWA world tour and there will no doubt be some explosive moves going down when they go head to head.
Strong winds and a new swell have been forecast for Wednesday through Thursday, the final two days of official competition, so it looks like both wave and freestyle will both finish with thrilling climaxes. In the men’s wave event, Vidar Jensen (North) currently holds pole position but the likes of Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Neil Pryde), Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde), Jonas Ceballos (Fanatic, Gaastra), Josh Angulo and Matt Pritchard (Gaastra) are all in with a shot at the taking victory here in Pozo.
Log on to www.high.tv to check out details of live daily broadcasts from here in Gran Canaria. Ground breaking technology will bring you the height; the wipe-outs and all the action live from the finals. You can also hear live analysis from the likes of Josh Angulo and Brian Talma (F2, Arrows) who have been in the commentary box with a bird’s eye view of the action.
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