2013 KSP Tour Riders Released
International Kiteboarding Association, March 25, 2013: Following the KSP World Tour Riders application process, which ended on March 1, 2013, the IKA is pleased to announce the list of riders to join the pre-qualified 2012 top 10 male and top 5 female riders on the 2013 Wave World Championship Tour run by the KSP.
With an impressive number of 67 male and 26 female applications from all around the world received during the application period, the formerly announced qualification procedure took place over the past three weeks.
Within that procedure the IKA consulted with the national associations of countries from which more than one rider had applied in order to give them the opportunity to choose their top rider to be put forward for this year’s KSP world tour. The riders were chosen by the IKA under the criteria of creating a slate with the highest possible riding level while also keeping the field of competitors on the KSP as international as possible. A complete list of riders that will receive a KSP wild card by the IKA and be offered a KSP tour license for the 2013 season can be found below.
While the IKA was busy with the qualification procedure the pre-qualified top 10 male and top 5 female riders from the 2012 KSP ranking were offered their tour license by the KSP and all but Guilly Brandao (Best/BRA) and Kirsty Jones (North/GBR) accepted their spot on the 2013 KSP world tour. Pedro Henrique (Best/BRA) and Kari Schibevaag (Ozone/NOR) will move up into the list of pre-qualified riders automatically.
Next to the qualification process the IKA selected their male and female wild cards for the 2013 season, which will go to Marciel “Matchu” Lopes Almeida and Kristin Boese. With the released list of 2013 KSP tour riders the KSP board members will select their male and female tour wild cards shortly to complete the slate of 22 male and 11 female KSP tour riders for the 2013 season.
With the world’s top riders and a total of 18 countries in the slate, the 2013 world title race is going to be phenomenal. Riders that have been selected to receive a KSP Tour License will receive an e-mail from the KSP within the next days and will have until April 10, 2013 to accept the tour license. Any licenses that are not accepted will automatically go back to the pool and the IKA and KSP will select the next rider on the list, either by nationality or other criteria as outlined in the qualification criteria.
The riders selected by IKA and the national associations are:
Female riders:
Kristin Boese (Best/GER)
Marie Gautron (FRA)
Melissa Gil (Cabrinha/CRI)
Marina Marselli (ITA)
Moona Whyte (Cabrinha/HAW)
Male riders:
Ralph Boelen (FRA)
Ryan Coote (Ozone/IRL)
Gonzalo Gomes (Naish/POR)
George Ide (GBR)
Abel Lago (RRD/ESP)
Kevin Langeree (Naish/NED)
Marciel “Matchu” Lopes Almeida (North/CPV)
Mark Moore (Cabrinha/CAN)
Sergey Mysovskiy (Cabrinha/RUS)
Ran Rave (ISR)
Sky Solbach (North/USA)
The above list of riders will be contacted by the KSP directly and will join the following list of pre-qualified riders on the 2012 KSP World Tour:
Female riders:
Jalou Langeree (Naish/NED)
Ines Correia (RRD/POR)
Ninja Bichler (North/GER)
Milla Ferreira (F-One/BRA)
Kari Schibevaag (Ozone/NOR)
Male riders:
Keahi DeAboitiz (Cabrinha/AUS)
Mitu Monteiro (F-One/CPV)
Airton Cozzolino (North/ITA)
Patri McLaughlin (North/HAW)
Sebastian Ribeiro (Best/BRA)
Luke McGillewie (RRD/RSA)
Filippe Ferreira (F-One/BRA)
Mauricio Redreira (BRA)
Etienne Lhote (F-One/FRA)
Pedro Henrique (Best/BRA)
One male and one female KSP tour wild card are still to be selected by the KSP board members and will be released shortly. Local and one-event riders will be notified about the qualification process as time draws closer to the relevant event and by the KSP and/or local organizers directly.