PKRA TOUR STOP#1: VENEZUELA: Bruna Kajiya wins PKRA round one!
Posted Tuesday April 24th 2007
2007 is proving to be quite a year already for Best Team Rider Bruna Kajiya. Fresh off her first place win at
the South American Championships in Chile, Bruna stormed the first round of the PKRA by winning the Women's
Freestyle event.
Training hard all winter, Bruna wowed the crowds, stomping powered moves that rivaled the men's, demonstrating
both Bruna's technical ability, and heck yes, the technical ability of our 06 Yargas!
Although we wish this gave us license to claim, "ride our kites, even our last year's kites, and win competitions," if truth be told, Bruna could beat most girls riding a 2-line
Grunt from 2004. But there's nothing like having gear that you love and trust, which is what
Best is all about. A company "of riders for riders," our goal is to provide our riders with gear they love, and help them maximize their potential. That we happen to be Bruna's brand of choice ... that's just icing on the cake.
And now, with the recent release of our new 07 Yargas, we're looking forward to getting Bruna her new kites as much as she's looking forward to receiving them. Her 07 9m Yarga finally showed up (albeit after the competition, thanks
to a UPS "delay" in Caracas), and the 7 and 11 will be sent to her in Austria. We can't wait to see what she does
with them!
Congratulations, Bruna. We're extremely proud of you. We know it wasn't easy, but you did it, in the end. Good job.
Venezuela, in Bruna's words ...
Good Start!!!
The first stop of the Pkra World Tour finished this weekend and I had a good start for the season, winning the
event! I'm super happy and looking forward for the other stops.
I won the first elimination, having two hard heats on my way to the top. The first one was on the semi-finals
against Karolina Winkowska and the second one was against Gisela Pulido in the finals. I did the finals on my 7m
yarga and I had the perfect power to do pretty much all my tricks and it was a smooth heat. Winning the single
elimination made things a lot easier for me and I jut had to wait for the doubles to defend my position.
On the last day of event we had the finals for the doubles. It was tiring conditions for the riders because the
wind was light so we had to take out the big kites and run on the beach. The girl that came to challenge me was
Gisela. I made a mistake on our first heat taking the wrong kite out andbecause of that I was super underpowered
and couldn't go upwind but for the second heat I took the right size kite and went for it full power!! Winning the
event :) It was a great competition and I'm already getting ready to Austria!!
Bruna will fly from Venezuela to Austria, for the second round of the world PKRA, which will take place on the
1st May - 6th May.
PRESS RELEASE:
Movistar PKRA Venezuela Kiteboarding World Tour 2007
Women's Single Elimination Round
Thursday 19 April
"After two days of wind delay, the third day of the Movistar Kiteboarding World Cup 2007 got started with a
bang. There were clear sunny skies as usual and the wind was definitely stronger in El Yaque compared to the past
few days in Coche, averaging between 15 to 20 knots (5 bft), building from early in the morning throughout the
afternoon, and peaking at around 2 pm ...
... The women’s division have also stepped it up this year with more and more riders showing off technical and
powerful moves such as aerial handle pass tricks, slimchances, and mobes, which in the past were usually reserved
for the men’s division. In Heat #2B, young Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain) showed her stuff by beating out
Clarissa Hempel (Cabrinha, Brazil) with a slim, 313, front mobe and blind judge while Hempel went for huge kite
loops and downloops. Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland) landed a powered mobe and a blind judge and won her heat
compellingly against friend and fellow Polish countryperson, Ola Tomkowicz (Best.)
In the quarterfinals, Ania Grzelinska (North, Poland) unleashed an array of surface pass moves, while up and
coming Pulido had several aerial pass tricks up her sleeves including an S-bend 3, a 313 and front mobe, to beat
out Ania for a spot in the semis. In separate quarterfinal heats, Winkowska landed a nice blind judge, front to
blind, and 313 while Angela Peral (North, Spain) was only able to manage several surface pass moves including a
back to wrapped, raley to blind and downloop to blind, loosing her spot in the semis.
Pulido continued her charge to the podium overcoming Jo Wilson (Naish, UK) in the semis with a front mobe, 313,
slim and aerial back to blind. Wilson replied, going for mobes and an aerial back to blind, but without success.
Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil) defeated Winkowska’s mobe and 313 in their semifinal heat and astonished the
crowd when she landed an NIS, S-bend 3 and aerial back to blind, so smooth and powered that they rivaled the men’s!
She then went on to edge out Pulido for a first place finish. Winkowska landed a mobe and raley to blind ensuring
her place on the podium in third, with Wilson taking fourth."
Women’s Single Elimination Results:
1) Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil)
2) Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain)
3) Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland)
4) Jo Wilson (Naish, UK)
Women's Double Elimination Round
Saturday 21 April
"The fifth and final day of the Movistar Kiteboarding World Cup 2007 in Isla Margarita ... kicked off with a huge
crowd lining the beach cheering for their favorite riders under brilliant sunny skies. The wind was noticeably
lighter during the morning but gradually picked up during the afternoon competition, forcing most of the riders to
take out their larger kites ...
... The women’s finals provided the crowds much excitement and nailbiting suspense going into a winner’s double
elimination heat. Pulido won the first round of the women’s doubles final with some solid moves landing a 313, slim
chance and front and back to blind against Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil). Bruna was a bit underpowered with a
smaller kite and only managed clean landings on a blind judge, raley to blind and back to blind while crashing her
attemps for an S-bend 1 and NIS. In round two though, with lesson learned, Bruna came back charging with a larger
kite, throwing down a beautiful powered and low kite angled non-inverted slim chance, 313, S-bend 1, blind judge,
raley to wrapped, and back to blind. Pulido went for a variety of superb technical moves, nailing a slim chance,
313 and front mobe, but a higher kite angle and slower entry/exit speeds to her tricks gave the edge to Kajiya and
the coveted top spot on the podium."
Women's Double Elimination Final Results
1) Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil)
2) Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain)
3) Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland)
4) Jo Wilson (Naish, UK)
For previous news on the PKRA Venezuela, right click on the following links, and open in new window:
04/19/07: PKRA Venezuela: the first 2 days ... no wind & no Yargas
04/16/07: PKRA Venezuela: the start of the 2007 PKRA World Tour
|
