Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup, Fuwairit, QAT, 2023 - Highlights of the Finals

The first World Cup of the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour season has taken place in Furwairit, Qatar over the last five days. The Tour’s freestyle riders did put on an exciting show of high-performance competition in this unique, natural set-up. A shallow water lagoon makes it perfect for freestyle competition. In the end, it was brazilian Bruna Kajiya and the italian Gianmaria Coccoluto who secured the victory in the first World Cup of the season, opening the fight for the title in 2023.

The opening day of the Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup at Fuwairit Kite Beach Resort in Qatar saw bright blue skies and warm southerly winds at the event site all day. In the end the wind didn’t become suitable to make a start to the competition at this opening event of the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour season, especially as there are stronger northerly winds forecast later in the week. Competitors took advantage of the available conditions to hit the lagoon at this amazing new...

As was forecast, conditions continued to deliver the lighter southerly winds on day two of the Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup, though a positive start was made to the competition and the line-up for the women’s final is complete. The riding fleet is very compact at this event with just 16 men and eight women. The level amongst the competitors is incredibly high, but with this reduced fleet the men started directly at the quarter final stage, with four heats of four riders. There wou...

Reigning GKA Freestyle Kite World Champion Gianmaria Coccoluto and past title holder Bruna Kajiya are looking to cement their early success in Qatar and further their claims to the coveted 2023 crowns at the world tour’s upcoming second stop in Colombia. The triumphant pair, Coccoluto and Kajiya, won the tour’s opening stop at the Visit Qatar GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup and are set to battle in the idyllic setting of Salinas del Rey’s Caribbean coastline. It is the second of six scheduled to...

It is the penultimate stop of the Freestyle-Kite discipline on the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour 2023. The event takes place on Brazil's Cauipe Lagoon, which offers butter-flat, warm waters and consistent winds, making it perfect for freestyle kiting. Brazil’s Bruna Kajiya and former world champion Arthur Guillebert (FRA) take the win in two really tight finals. This freestyle stop of the world tour is loaded with kite-surfing action and thrill.

Cozzolino, who represents Italy, was fully-focused on winning but also keen to avenge a defeat by Lopes in their last encounter in Cape Verde. Cozzolino landed a 7.83 for big open-faced carves. But Lopes had saved the best for last and scored the biggest wave of the competition—8.66— that took his heat total to 16.74 and gave him the win.

It is the penultimate stop of the Freestyle-Kite discipline on the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour 2023. The event takes place on Brazil's Cauipe Lagoon, which offers butter-flat, warm waters and consistent winds, making it perfect for freestyle kiting. Brazil’s Bruna Kajiya cements her place at the top of the Freestyle rankings on the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour. Former world champion Arthur Guillebert (FRA) takes the win in a tight final, which gives the Frenchman two top finishes h...

On Day 2 of the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup in Cape Verde, the battle for the title comes to a head. Reigning world champion James Carew was dumped from the GKA Kite-Surf World Cup on the second day of the contest on Cape Verde in epic waves. The Australian, who had been hoping to land a third successive title, lost the final round of the day by only a fraction of a point to Cape Verde-based legend, Airton Cozzolino. The victory of Cozzolino, an Italian who calls the island home, drew wild cheeri...