SA Dominates Kneelo World Titles

BARREL EYE VIEW: The kneelo contest site at Costa Nova, which is near Porto. Photo Supplied

South Africa completed a hugely successful week when they added victory in the tag team event to the medal haul, which included two bronze medals. Tom, who hails from Scarborough near Cape Town, was crowned Mens World Champion after a scintillating display at the beach break in the town of Aveiro near Porto in northern Portugal. Aveiro has been dubbed the Venice Beach of the country.

Apart from a second in his first heat, Tom won six consecutive heats all the way up to the finals, which he won emphatically with a huge score of 17 against the 10s awarded the other three finalists. This was on top of his victory in the Masters division (aged 40-44), in which he emphatically won every heat.

Linnie, who hails from Kommetjie (7km from Scarbs), was crowned Woman's World Champion against women a lot younger. Her amazing victory came after a brave bid for a podium in the Legends (aged 60-64), where she was the only woman to compete. She took second in Round 1 to make the semis, where she bowed out.

WOMEN'S FINALISTS: Linnie Ash poses with the runners-up after her win. Photo Supplied

It was an incredible achievement to see the Deep South of Cape Town come out so strongly against the best kneelos in the world to earn two Open gold medals within seven kilometres of one another.

Our veteran kneelo world champ Gigs Cilliers was crowned Kahunas (55-59) World Champion, while compatriot Larry Berger took third. Lester Sweetman was crowned Grand Masters (45-49) World Champion, with Anton Wiersma, who is also a Parasurfing SA team member, taking third.

The Men's Open event hosted the entire men's entry field for South Africa - Tom Gray, Gigs Cilliers, Colin Ferguson, Lester Sweetman, Anton Wiersma, Larry Berger, Roman Rezac, Ewan Rosie and Finlay Schellhorn. Gigs stormed towards the final, knocking out win after win in the heats leading up to the semi-final.

Unfortunately, Gigs was pitched against compatriot Tom in the second semi. This left Gigs, Brazilian Diego Azevedo and Spaniard David Hernandez to fight for the second spot in the final. It was an almighty tussle, with a mere 0.3 of a point separating the three. In the end, the scorecard read Azevedo 8.95, Hernandez 8.9 and Cilliers 8.65.

YELLOW JERSEY: It was an emphatic win by the dominant Tom Gray in the final. Photo Supplied

It was a hugely successful campaign. Out of 10 Saffas who entered the event, four got gold medals, while seven reached the finals in every division contested by South Africans ... barring one - the Veterans, where Linnie Ash and Colin Ferguson fell short. There were no South African entries in the other divisions: Juniors (U19), Pro Juniors (20-29), Seniors (30-39) and Immortals (65+).

According to members of the team, SA gees was strong, and a good time was had by all. The only concerning aspect is the lack of young kneelos coming through the ranks. There were only four entries for the Juniors, six for the Pro Juniors, and a mere two for the Seniors! This is quite a scary statistic, considering that this was a world title event that presumably attracts the best in each age group from an array of different countries.

TAG TEAM TRIUMPH: The kneelo tag team also walked away with an amazing win. Supplied

Kahunas 55-59:
1. Gigs Cilliers (SAF) 13.25
2. Christopher Beresford (USA) 11.75
3. Juan Navarro (SPN) 7.7
4. Roman Rezac (SAF) 7.350

Veterans 50-54
1. Gavin Colman (AUS) 14
2. Jerome Blanco (FRA) 9.35
3. Larry Berger (SAF) 8.1
4. David Hernandez (SPN) 6.50

Grand Masters 45-49
1. Lester Sweetman (SAF) 13.9
2. Diego Azevedo (BRA) 13.4
3. Anton Wiersma (SAF) 9.75
4. Alfonso Alconero (SPN) 7.84

Masters 40-44
1. Tom Gray (SAF) 11.25
2. Heyken Sanchez (VNZ) 8.45
3. Olivier Marimoutou (FRA) 7.25
4. Cesar Segura (SPN) 4.75s

Open Women
1. Linnie Ash (SAF) 10
2. Anne Milochau (FRA) 8.35
3. Maider Atorragasti (SPN) 7.45
4. Marina Franco (SPN) 7.20

Open Men
1. Tom Gray (SAF) 17
2. Samuel Coyne (USA) 10.75
3. Kevin Skvarna (USA) 10.4
4. Diego Azevedo (BRA) 10.25