Massimiliano Piffaretti of Italy dominated the men’s division while Sanne Meijer of the Netherlands took the women’s title in the wakeboard competition at Legtaifiya Lagoon yesterday.
Showing grace and poise, Piffaretti posted the day’s highest score of 86.22, netting 28.53 for execution, 29.06 for intensity and 28.64 for composition from the judging panel. 
Piffaretti — the reigning European men’s wakeboard champion and 2015 world champion — had an amazing start and went on to beat Cory Teunissen of Australia, who took silver with just 2 points behind Piffaret, while 21-year-old Guenther Oka of the US bagged the bronze with 82.67 points. 
“I never really thought about gold medal until the result came out. I feel amazing right now. I’m over the moon and I’m stoked to be able to come here in Qatar and perform the run that I had planned since day one,” Piffaretti told Gulf Times after receiving the gold medal. 
“I take advice from every single person that I really like. That’s the kind of person I’m. I do believe that I can always learn from other athletes as well,” Piffaretti added. 
Speaking after winning the silver medal, Cory Teunissen said, “I had a few wobbles, had a crash on a trick that I never really crash on, so definitely a few unexpected events went down but I ended up with the silver medal so can’t be super bummed with that.”
 
MEIJER MAGIC 
In the women’s final, two-time European champion Sanne Meijer outclassed the field, finishing with a whopping 83.88-points, netting 27.75 for execution, 28.17 for intensity and 27.86 for composition. 
Alice Virag of Italy placed second with 66.45 points while Jamie Lopina of the US had 64.11 points to claim bronze. 
“I can’t describe how excited I’m. Looking at yesterday I was kind of disappointed in my riding but now I’m incredibly happy,” Meijer told Gulf Times.
Banking on the experience from Doha, Meijer hopes to take her winning form through to the World Championships next week in Cancun, Mexico.
“It’s pretty hectic but I’m excited now. I hope to win but it’s going to be hard, really hard. It’s a different federation to this so it will also be different scoring. It’s only the second time I will compete in these kind of Worlds so it will be kind of like a tryout, but I’ll try my best (in Mexico),” Meijer said.  
Speaking about Meijer’s performance, coach Peter Van Getel said, “As a coach, I’m proud that Meijer won the gold. Three weeks ago we had a very fruitful training in Portugal and that was the last training Meijer had before this contest. Last week was a complete rest for her. 
“The competition is so well-organised; people in Qatar are so friendly. We just love being here in this beautiful country.” Getel said.