The first day of competition at the Pingtan Kiteboarding World Cup 2013 started early on the morning of Oct 22 with a beautiful opening ceremony with fireworks and many officials coming out to greet the riders and organizers. The conditions were perfect, with a steady 20 knot breeze and the waves providing great kickers for the competitors. The competition quickly got under way with Winkoska and Pulido making it into the final for the women. Tack was the first male rider to qualify for the final defeating Hadlow and Jacobs in the quarters and semis, he will meet either Pastor or Whaley in the final, which are both kiting really well.

With almost all the top riders here, the competition was intense right from the start with Smith and Garat in the first heat. Smith rode well but could not get enough tricks in to defeat Garat. Hadlow was up next and was in great form utilizing the kickers and bringing flawless execution to his tricks like the front blind mobe. Mario was riding with a lot of power but Hadlow was too technical and advanced. Next Tack came out firing landing a nice flat 5 off the waves and toe mobes, defeating Schizthofer. Hutter was in the next heat and start perfectly with the best grabbed 313 and S-1 grabbed that we have seen this year but could not follow it up with enough big moves to stop Jaspan. Next Jacobs who is currently second on the world rankings came out with an amazing amount of power in his s-mobe, double hinterberger and double s-3 and defeated Corniel. The North team riders Romeu and Spiessberger were up next and Stefan won the exchange in a close heat. Whaley was kiting very well and advanced over Blanc. Rondina and Borisov was a heat of contrasting styles with Rondina going for very technical tricks while Borisov was going for pure power. Rondina won the exchange with some great toe side tricks. The last heat of the second round was between Pastor and Garat, Pastor dominated by going big and having flawless execution trick after trick.

Every heat in the quarter finals was a close heat, the first heat of the quarters between Hadlow and Tack, this was the heat of the day. Both riders were pushing the boundries of kitesurfing, this could have been a final at any PKRA event. Aaron landed a perfect front blind mobe, s-mobe, blind pete and a few more excellent tricks, Tack had a front side 7 off a kicker, a blind judge 5 and nice crow mobe 5. Tack won the heat and advanced to the semis where he met Jacobs who dominated Jaspan with his power. Whaley advanced over Spiessberger by just going bigger on every move. The final heat of the quarters Pastor remained unbeatable with massive double s-1, s-mobe and front blind mobe.

The women's heats were dominated by the top riders: Pulido, Winkoska, Novotna and Schader advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals Gisela and Karolina showed why they are one and two in the world with both of them landing back mobes, s-mobes, 313 and more moves with power and great execution. The final is set for tomorrow and should be very exciting.

The first men's semifinal and last heat of the day between Tack and Jacobs was another great heat with Tack still being on fire landing another front side 7 and blind judge five. Marc who is usually very explosive was held back by the slightly lighter winds and was not able to overpower Tack. Tack secured his spot in the final and guaranteed himself a podium spot and big check at the Pingtan World Cup.

Competition will resume tomorrow and the men's second semifinal will be run and the single elimination will wrap up before twelve to give room to the slalom racer or big air specialists. The event could not have started better and Christophe Tacks unbelievable heats set the tone for this event and the rest of the week should be very exciting. Follow us on www.prokitetour.com and facebook for the latest news and results.