Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle-Kite World Cup Finals 2024 Fuwairit - Champions crowned
by GKA Kite World Tour 13 Dec 2024 01:21 AEDT
10-14 December 2024
Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle-Kite World Cup Finals 2024 Fuwairit winners © GKA Kite World Tour 2024
The third and final Freestyle World Cup of the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour 2024 season was hosted at Fuwairit Kite Beach (QAT), where the new world champions were crowned.
The world's best freestyle kiteboarders showcased their amazing skills and stunning tricks while rotating through the air. The flat waters combined with strong winds in the lagoon gave the athletes ideal conditions. In the end, Swiss Maxime Chabloz secured his maiden world champion title, while Brazil's Bruna Kajiya claimed her fifth in total.
In the women's final, the favourite was overall leader Bruna Kajiya, who had been on top of her game all season. Two Spaniards, Rita Arnaus and Claudia León, as well as Kaya Lehmann (GER) qualified for the decisive heat too. Lehmann landed a good Double S-bend to Blind late in the heat, but was a little adrift and finished fourth behind León (3rd place), who also struggled to put a convincing heat together. Arnaus fared better with a decent heat with a total score of 16.97 points, enough for 2nd place in Qatar and in the overall standings. However, no one could stop the newly crowned World Champion: Kajiya was once more in a league of her own, bringing her total up to 26.3 points, securing her fifth title.
In the men's category, a tie for the top spot in the overall rankings was set to be broken between Maxime Chabloz (SUI) and France's Arthur Guillebert. At first Chabloz and his French rival seemed to struggle, instead German 15-year-old Finn Flügel came out with three big scores of 7.17, 8.00 and 8.33 points respectively, taking the lead early. Guillebert found his back in a bit, climbing in second place at that stage before Chabloz countered with a huge Backmobe 7 trick, which was rewarded with 9.43 points. In the end, Flügel held on to the lead (30.20 points) to clinch his first ever World Cup win on the World Tour! Chabloz held off Guillebert (3rd place) to secure 2nd place, which was enough to secure his first ever World Champion title!
Event Results Men - Freestyle Kite
1. Finn Flügel (GER)
2. Maxime Chabloz (SUI)
3. Arthur Guillebert (FRA)
Event Results Women - Freestyle Kite
1. Bruna Kajiya (BRA)
2. Rita Arnaus (ESP)
3. Claudia León (ESP)
Final Overall Standings Men
1. Maxime Chabloz (SUI)
2. Arthur Guillebert (FRA)
3. Finn Flügel (GER)
Final Overall Standings Women
1. Bruna Kajiya (BRA)
2. Rita Arnaus (ESP)
3. Kaya Lehmann (GER)