iQFoil International Games #4 at Circolo Surf Torbole - Overall
by Elena Giolai 25 Sep 09:40 PDT
Italian Daniele Benedetti wins the IQFoil International Games in Torbole; third place under 21 for Circolo Surf Torbole athlete Manolo Modena, Germany's Engelmann takes the women's victory
An exciting final day in Torbole for the iQFoil International Games, organised by Circolo Surf Torbole with the Italian Sailing Federation and the Garda Trentino Vela Consortium, with the medal series and then quarter finals, semifinals and finals for the men's and women's categories. The formula of these finals remains adrenalin-fuelled both for the sprint start to the beam, and for the possibility of each of the top 10 in the medal series to earn a place in the final and thus a medal.
The course, which also includes stern and upwind, makes everything very technical and not a foregone conclusion. Late in the morning the men's slalom battery, which had not been able to be finished on Saturday due to a drop in the wind, was also contested; shortly after the end of the race the Race Committee had the field repositioned for the medal series that had started earlier for the women. Germany's Alisa Engelmann, who had slipped to fourth place on Friday, redeemed herself by passing the quarters and semi-finals and taking victory in the final ahead of Czech Barbora Svikova (first under-21) and China's Manjia Zheng.
The men's medal series was also exciting, which unfortunately began with the Italian and Circolo Surf Torbole rider Jacopo Renna dropping out of the quarter-finals for an early start. Throughout the event he showed good pace and still finished in a good fifth place overall, followed by teammate Manolo Modena, third under-21.
Another Italian Daniele Benedetti took a clear victory, directly into the final having been first in the overall classification after the 15 races held (12 course races, two slaloms and one marathon race). The semifinal, on the other hand, was a pohotofinish between China's Kun Bi and Thailand's Will Mac Mallin, who gave up the pace and access to the final to the Chinese and Australian Grae Morris, winner of the semifinal by a few centimetres. The two athletes finished in that order in the final, winning the silver and bronze medals behind Benedetti; the Australian won in the under-21 category. The event, the last international organised in the 2022 season by the Circolo Surf Torbole, was certainly full of wind and racing and did not spare any twists and turns in the final stages.
Full results available here.