PWA Cold Hawaii World Cup - An ambush and a victory on day 3

by Matthew Pryor on 20 Sep 2012 Philip ‘the kid’ Köster confirmed himself as the 2012 PWA Wave World Cup champion by taking the win in the semi-final of the PWA KIA Cold Hawaii World Cup as the sun set on Wednesday evening. He set up a revenge final with Thomas Traversa, the French rider, who had ambushed earlier in the day in the single elimination, knocking him out in the semi-final.

Victor Fernandez Lopez, the 2010 world cup champion, could not stop the charge of Köster, who beat him 24.76 to 23. Fernandez Lopez was well behind until he produced a beautiful wave ride that brought him 8.25, the highest wave ride of the heat, but he could find another high-scoring wave.

Köster, who became the youngest ever PWA Wave world champion last year at the age of 17, already has one hand on the world title after winning the first two of the four event world cup, in Pozo, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, found himself in the unusual situation of lying fourth after losing twice in earlier in the day in the single elimination.

Showing his remarkable maturity and skill, the 18-year-old German rider, showed who had learned from his earlier defeats in tough onshore conditions, which Köster called 'the toughest conditions he had ever sailed in.'

Earlier Köster halted the charge of Kauli Seadi, the Brazilian 2010 champion and then avenged his defeat by Ricardo Campello in the loser’s final of the single elimination earlier in the morning.

With two waves and one jump being counted by the judges, Köster, the best jumper on the tour, concentrated on finding waves to great effect before logging his jump.

Ricardo Campello, winner of the single elimination loser’s final:

On facing Philip Köster in the loser’s final: 'Damn, I’m in the loser’s final and I’m facing Philip Köster.'

On the onshore conditions: 'Those are the toughest conditions I’ve ever faced.'

On beating Köster: 'He’s down there (below him on the podium) for once. I beat him in the single elimination before and then he beat me twice in the double elimination so we’ll see.'

Philip Köster, loser of the single elimination loser’s final:

On Traversa: 'That was the toughest conditions I have sailed in. I’m surprised by Thomas because I’ve never seen him in these conditions. It was so difficult; I couldn’t see where to be on the waves.'

Kauli Seadi, 2010 Cold Hawaii champion and single elimination quarter-finalist:

On Traversa: 'Thomas is an overall good sailor. He understands how to read the waves. He's a solid wave rider and confident especially in his frontside turns.'

On his quarter-final defeat: 'I was struggling to get the ramps the judges didn’t score my last wave, I feel that was unfair.'

Klaas Voget, single elimination quarter-finalist:

On his quarter-final: 'I had two good waves in my heat and if they had scored those properly I would have won. They didn’t score them both because they said I was out of the competition area. I had one big backside air and a couple of frontside turns on one wave that would have scored around a seven and a couple of frontsides that would have been 5.5.'

'After that I focused on finding a jump, but they scored my other waves of 2.5 and 3. It’s pretty frustrating because I think I would have had a good chance against Philip.'

On Traversa: 'I’m surprised he beat Philip but I’m not surprised by his performance. He’s good in all conditions and he’s fearless on the wave, he always goes for the lip.'

Quotes from the evening:

Philip Köster, double elimination winner after confirming his second consecutive PWA world title in the semi-final:

On winning his world title: 'I’m so stoked, I feel so good, I had a great year first Pozo, then Tenerife and now Cold Hawaii.'

'It's amazing. Can't be better. I haven't got words for it.'

'I had two first places (in Pozo and Tenerife). Here it's cross onshore. It's like a lottery, you never know what to expect. Against Campello, Traversa, Fernandez it's pretty hard, they were sailing good.'

On strategy: 'On the water you have to stay calm and just do what the conditions offer you. If you see the other guy jump or wave ride a lot, you have to think about it. But I don’t have a strategy, I’m not really thinking about it. I don’t know.'

'Normally I try to get a good jump in the beginning of the heat but here in Klitmøller you never know. You just have to go with what the conditions offer you.'

On gear: 'I started off with a 5.0 sail and a 87 litre board with three finns. In the heat against Traversa I broke my board when I was landing a double loop forward. I went to the beach and got a 82 litre board from my dad. Well, broken boards, that happens.'

On adrenalin keeping him going on the charge in the double elimination: 'I didn't feel tired, I just had so much adrenalin.'

On his competitors: 'They all did good. It was close.'

On how he found out he was the World Champion: 'When I came in from the heat, (Robby) Swift told me while he was filming: 'You're World Champion.' He shouted it to me. I'll celebrate with my family, that's what I do.'

On waiting during the day: 'I woke up at 6am and got to the beach at 7am so it was a long wait, but then I got to watch the conditions - and I also got a bit nervous.'

On the judge's decision not to run the last heat against Traversa tonight: 'I think it was the right decision since it was hard to see out there by the end.'

On whether he will motivated for the super final with Traversa despite already having his second consecutive world title: 'I still wan't to win it. I'll give it 100%.'

Thomas Traversa, winner of the single elimination final and super finalist:

On the judge’s decision on his double forward: 'I thought I landed the jump so I was not looking for another one. (He was only scored 3.19 for his double forward).'

On waiting for the double elimination final: 'I think it was an advantage for me to wait during the day and then to climb the ranking. I prefer to wait rather than fight. I am still really happy with the day and looking forward to the final.'

Victor Fernandez Lopez, third place:

On his third place: 'I'm really happy for my third place here again (he was third in 2011). Conditions were really though. After finishing this morning I went home and watched the last heats on the livestream.'

On gear and strategy: 'I started on a five metre sail and a 85 litre board with three fins - because it's fast and good for jumping. After getting my double forward I changed to a 4.7m sail and 96l board and dedicated the end of the heat to wave riding.'

On the conditions: 'Tough. It was a bit better in the evening. less cross onshore. It was close, I had a chance to win and that gives me motivation.'

Ricardo Campello, fourth place, after losing to Köster:

On being up against Köster: 'Why does he always have to do the 360 against me?'

On watching the live streaming of Fernandez vs. Köster in the clubhouse: 'I wish I had a joystick.'

On cheering out loud for Fernandez: 'I would like Victor to win the event because he sails really good and if he wins it will be more interesting in Sylt.'

On gear: 'Against Köster today I had a 5.0 sail and a 93 liter board with four PWA World Tour Cold Hawaii World Cup website