German ace Guhrs leads wakeboard Open finalists

FREDERIC Von Osten of Germany performs his stunt during his semifinal run in the men’s Open category.

ANGELES CITY—Showing the formidable field what he’s capable of when the stakes get higher, Germany’s Dominik Guhrs made tough tricks look easy yesterday to tow the finalists of the premier Open men wakeboard division of the World Cable Wakeboard Championships at the Deca Wakeboard Park Clark here yesterday.

Guhrs was rewarded for taking a more risky approach to tally 85.33 points and emerge as the top qualifier heading into today’s final round.

His solid performance boosted him ahead of Tokyo World Cup winner Frederic Van Osten, also of Germany, who posted 75.67 points, and Nick Davies of Great Britain, who ranked third with a 72.67.

Also making the men’s finals were  Im San of Korea who scored 71.33 points in his first run to grab the last finals berth in the group.

Declan Clifford of Great Britain proved superb in the semifinal heat 1 with an average score of 74.33 on his second run to lead the other qualifiers made up of Israel’s Lior Sofer (71.33), Laszlo Papp of Hungary (65.67), and Tatsanai Aye of Thailand (62.33).

The women’s open finale is also slated today with British ace Kirsteen Mitchell defending her world crown against compatriots Tor Young and Steph Caller, Sophia Marie Reimers  and Cosima Giemza of Germany, Astrid Schabransky of Austria, Denise de Haan of The Netherlands, and Angelika Schriber of Australia.

Earlier, Susan Larsson finally nailed the Philippines’ its first medal in the event backed by Rixen Cableways, IWWF Wakeboard 2020 Vision, Smart, Gatorade, Deca Homes, Stoked Inc, Rip Curl, Monster Energy Drink, Devant LED TV, Bacardi, Department of Tourism Region 3, Aktion Parks, Plus Event Marketing and organized by Eventking Corp.

Larsson made sure the hosts will not finish the six-day event empty-handed by bagging a silver in the open ladies wakeskate event.

Also ruling their events yesterday were German bets Jan Kissmann (open men’s wakeskate) and Julie Rick (junior ladies’ wakeboard) and Miles Toller (junior men’s wakeboard). Cedelf P. Tupas