Sharjah: Three of the four world titles were decided on the penultimate day of the season finale of the 2016 UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship along Sharjah’s Buhairah Corniche on Tuesday.
Teenager Emma-Nellie Ortendahl of Sweden became the youngest world champion winning the Ski Ladies category, Rok Florjancic of Slovenia successfully defended his world crown for a fourth straight world crown and Kuwait’s Yousuf Abdul Razzaq pocketed his third world title in five years.
Coming into the fifth and final round of the 2016 UIM-ABP Aquabike season, Frenchman Jeremy Poret had already sealed a record fourth straight world crown.
With top honours in all four categories settled, the final day of racing on Wednesday will turn out to be a fight for deciding runner-up positions before the season takes its traditional winter break.
Though action was intense in all categories of racing, a major part of the attention was on 18-year-old Ortendahl, who was chasing a first-ever world crown after falling short of the title at this very venue last year. This time the Swede was in total control breaking away from her closest opponent Jennifer Menard of France never to look back till the end.
Ortendahl finished more than 18 seconds clear of Beatriz Curtinhal of Portugal, while reigning champion Menard managed third place. “I have worked hard for this world title,” Ortendahl told Gulf News.
“This is a dream come true for me and I am so, so happy that all the hard work I and my team have put to be here,” she added after seeing her overall tally soar to an unreachable 213 points with one final race remaining today.
Abdul Razzaq was the other standout story of the penultimate evening as he fought back from fourth to win the race, and along with it his second back-to-back world title in the Runabout category. Having won the title for the first time in 2012, the Kuwaiti had managed to bag a second last season, only to see a host of challengers, notably Britain’s James Bushell, on his tail.
However, Bushell limped out of the race on the first lap with an electrical dysfunction. But he rejoined the race later and started making ground in challenging the Kuwaiti rider. But a blown fuse towards the end saw Bushell out a second time, never to return and handing over the title to Abdul Razzaq.
“It’s an amazing feeling to come and win a second straight title and the third of my career,” Abdul Razzaq beamed.
“The key to winning here today was to stay patient and I knew my time would come. And it did,” he added after taking his points tally to 181 and out of reach of Bushell’s 120 points in second position. “Tomorrow, we just come and have some fun,” he smiled.
In the Freestyle category, the Skydive Dubai-sponsored Rashid Al Mulla won the battle, but lost the war for the overall title to Slovenia’s Rok Florjancic. Al Mulla took the top spot in the first of two races, but Florjancic took second place and the 20 points that came along were enough to give the Slovenian an unbeatable lead of 211 points compared to Al Mulla’s 182.
In the Ski Men’s category, Austria’s Kevin Reiterer was in the lead, leaving early leader Nacho Armillas of Spain in second followed by the Poret brothers, Mickael, Morgan and newly-crowned world champion Jeremy in the next three positions.
Racing will continue at the Khalid Lagoon along Sharjah’s Buhairah Corniche on Wednesday with the first of four categories getting under way at 2.15pm with the Ski Ladies.
RESULTS
Freestyle: 1. Rashid Al Mulla (UAE) 25pts; 2. Rok Florjancic (Slovenia) 20; Fahd Al Hameli (Qatar) 16; 4. Roberto Mariani (Italy) 13; 5. Saleh Al Buainain (Qatar) 11.
Ski Ladies: 1. Emma-Nellie Ortendahl (Sweden) 25pts; 2. Beatriz Curtinhal (Portugal) 20; 3. Jennifer Menard (France) 16; 4. Virginie Morlaes (France) 13; 5. Jonna Borgstrom (Sweden) 11.
Ski Men: 1. Kevin Reiterer (Austria) 25pts; 2. Nacho Armillas (Spain) 20; 3. Mickael Poret (France) 16; 4. Morgan Poret (France) 13; 5. Jeremy Poret (France) 11.
Runabout Class: 1. Yousuf Abdul Razzaq (Kuwait) 25pts; 2. Jeremy Perez (France) 20; 3. Lars Akerblom (Sweden) 16; 4. Christophe Agostinho (France) 13; 5. Patrice Pellier (France) 11.
