“Those are the best conditions I’ve ever kited in: riding a 13m kite, alone in Taiba lagoon. What more do you want? The level is insane. There’s nothing affecting a rider’s performance except their own skills.”
Overview
Held from November 8 to 12, 2022, in Taiba, Ceará, Brazil, the 2022 Copa Kitley GKA Freestyle-Kite World Cup Taiba served as the third and final stop of the 2022 Qatar Airways GKA Freestyle World Tour following rounds in Colombia and Saudi Arabia. Staged for the very first time on the legendary butter-flat waters of Taiba Lagoon, the season finale became an instant classic: UK maverick Tom Bridge returned after a six-year hiatus to throw six never-been-done (NBD) maneuvers and combo lines that forced a complete rewrite of the GKA rulebook, while Italy’s Gianmaria Coccoluto dropped a historic 38.74-point heat and clinched the 2022 World Title on the final trick by 0.36 points.
Location and Conditions: First-Ever World Cup at Taiba Lagoon
Located northwest of Cumbuco, Taiba Lagoon has long been revered alongside Cauipe Lagoon as the ultimate training ground for new-school freestyle. While normally packed with dozens of kiters, joint organizers Copa Kitley and the GKA built a full competition infrastructure on the sandbar so that four riders at a time could have the entire lagoon to themselves.
To ensure clean, unobstructed wind across the takeoff zone, the judging tower was positioned 100 meters back from the spectator enclosure. Blessed with steady 18-to-25-knot Brazilian trade winds and mirror-flat water, athletes rode 12-to-15-meter kites in excuse-free conditions.
Format and World Title Scenarios
Contested under the standard seven-attempt format counting each rider’s best four tricks (for a maximum of 40 points), the finale carried high-stakes championship math.
Having won both previous stops in Colombia and Neom, Brazil’s Manoel Soares needed only to reach the semifinals (Top 8) in Taiba to clinch the 2022 World Title outright regardless of any other rider’s result.
However, if Manoel Soares were eliminated in the quarterfinals or earlier (9th place tie or worse), the door would swing open for World No. 2 Gianmaria Coccoluto (Italy) or World No. 3 Juan Rodriguez (Colombia) to snatch the World Championship by winning the Taiba event.
In the women’s title race, Mikaili Sol needed a top-three finish to seal her fifth consecutive freestyle crown (fourth pure freestyle title), whereas Neom winner Claudia León or veteran Bruna Kajiya needed to win the event with Mikaili Sol finishing 4th or lower.
Highlights and Epic Battles
1. Tom Bridge “Breaks the Judging System” with Six NBDs and Out-of-the-Box Combos
Alongside the title race, the most talked-about story of the week was the shock return of British phenomenon Tom Bridge after a six-year hiatus from competition following double knee injuries.
While Day 1’s Round 3 already saw Gianmaria Coccoluto land the first-ever “Front Blind Mobe 5” (9.83 pts) in competition and Valentin Rodríguez stomp a “mummy-wrapped KGB 5,” Tom Bridge stole the show across three heats (Rounds 1, 3, and 4). Refusing to conform to the low-kite “spin-to-win” meta, Tom Bridge unleashed six never-been-done (NBD) competition maneuvers—including the first-ever competitive “Blind Front Blind Mobe” (popping from blind), a “Blind Double Front Roll to Blind,” a “Crow Mobe into Blind Slim Chance” combo, a “Slim Chance into Double Half-Cab Mobe” combo, and a “Toeside 317.” Even more memorably, he launched over the rocks and shallows at the edge of the lagoon and kept linking unhooked combo tricks right past the boundary buoys outside the competition box.
Under the 2022 rules, however, the second trick in a combination was completely ignored by the scoring system, and deductions for his higher kite angle kept all six of his NBDs below 7.0 points—resulting in a Round 4 exit. Yet his electrifying display “broke the judging system” and sparked such a massive outcry among riders and fans that the GKA rewrote its rulebook over the off-season, introducing the “Variety Score” and official Combo/Blind/Toeside families just two months later in Qatar.
2. A Quarterfinal for the Ages: Gianmaria Coccoluto’s 38.74-Point Masterpiece and Manoel Soares’s Shock Exit
Men’s Quarterfinal Heat 1 on Day 2 (November 10) went down as one of the greatest heats in freestyle history.
Drawn directly against each other were rankings leader Manoel Soares—who only needed a top-two finish in the heat to be crowned World Champion on the spot—and his chief title rival Gianmaria Coccoluto, joined by lagoon specialist Erick Anderson (competing with a dislocated finger popped back into place the day before) and France’s Valentin Garat.
Manoel Soares led after the first two rounds with a “Slim 9,” but on the third attempt Gianmaria Coccoluto dropped a 9.07 to take the lead, and moments later Manoel Soares uncharacteristically caught his front edge on landing and crashed.
Seizing the momentum, Gianmaria Coccoluto entered full beast mode: he followed his 9.07 with a 9.67 on his fourth trick, and then unleashed back-to-back perfect 10.00-point maneuvers—a “Grabbed Front Blind Mobe 5” on attempt five and a massive “Backside 319” on attempt six—amassing an unprecedented 38.74 out of 40 points (9.07, 9.67, 10.00, and 10.00).
Meanwhile, Erick Anderson—riding a 15-meter kite—stomped a 9.63-point maneuver on his fifth run to surge past Manoel Soares into 2nd place. Pushed down to 3rd and needing a 6.53 on his seventh and final attempt to survive, a tense Manoel Soares suffered a butt-check on his “Grabbed KGB” to score just 3.50 points—eliminating him in 3rd place in the heat (9th overall) and leaving his title fate entirely in the hands of his rivals.
“Yeah, I feel good. I’m super excited about it, two 10s and two 9.5s, almost perfect heat. I think it’s one of the best heats ever in freestyle competition. I’m super happy… So I can be world champion now, so keep focused, competition’s not finished.”
— Gianmaria Coccoluto
3. 30-Point Semifinals and Maxime Chabloz’s 9.97-Point Statement
With the title race blown wide open, Carlos Mario, Adeuri Corniel, Juan Rodriguez, and Maxime Chabloz all broke the 30-point barrier in the remaining quarterfinals.
In Men’s Semifinal 1 on Finals Day, title contender Juan Rodriguez crashed hard to finish 4th, while defending 2021 World Champion Arthur Guillebert—riding with a heavily taped knee—fell just short on his final “Front Blind Mobe 5” in 3rd. Gianmaria Coccoluto (who added another 10-point “Back Mobe 7” on his victory lap) and Carlos Mario advanced to the final, reducing the title race to a simple equation: if Gianmaria Coccoluto won the final, he would be World Champion; any other outcome would crown Manoel Soares.
In Men’s Semifinal 2, Switzerland’s Maxime Chabloz put on a clinic, locking in first place with a 9.03 before throwing a textbook “Back Mobe 7” on his final attempt for a near-perfect 9.97 points to advance alongside Erick Anderson.
In the women’s semifinals, Neom winner Claudia León saw her title hopes end with a semifinal exit, sending local favorite Mikaili Sol (who lives just 15 minutes from Taiba Lagoon), 35-year-old legend Bruna Kajiya, Spain’s Rita Arnaus, and Sweden’s Nathalie Lambrecht into the four-woman final.
Show Detailed Competition Results (Spoiler Alert)
“It’s like unreal, but, yeah, it was in my head since forever. So for me, for myself, I was already world champion. But then I needed a place like this to show up what I can do. And finally, we had a competition in one of the best spots in the world. And I showed up my talent and what I can do. And that’s it, world champion!”
— Gianmaria Coccoluto
■ Women’s Grand Final: Mikaili Sol Drops a 9.00 on Home Waters to Clinch 6th Career World Title
In the Women’s Grand Final (Mikaili Sol, Bruna Kajiya, Rita Arnaus, and Nathalie Lambrecht), 18-year-old Mikaili Sol dominated from start to finish on her home lagoon.
Even with the championship already secured, she charged into her sixth attempt at full speed to stomp a 9.00-point “Stalefish Grab Slim 5,” finishing with 31.67 points to win the event and secure her fourth GKA Freestyle World Title (and sixth career World Championship including her two Big Air crowns).
In a dramatic battle for runner-up honors in both the event and the season standings, three-time World Champion Bruna Kajiya—the pioneer who landed the first women’s “Backside 315” in 2016—stomped a clutch final-attempt “Back Mobe” to reach 27.98 points, overtaking Spain’s model of consistency Rita Arnaus (26.70 pts, who finished 3rd at all three stops in 2022) for 2nd place, with Nathalie Lambrecht in 4th (23.53 pts).
■ Men’s Grand Final: A 0.36-Point Cliffhanger on the Final Trick of the Season
The Men’s Grand Final (Gianmaria Coccoluto, Maxime Chabloz, Erick Anderson, and Carlos Mario) delivered a Hollywood ending.
Knowing only 1st place would give him the World Title, Gianmaria Coccoluto rode with supreme amplitude and control to take the lead by trick four with 32.83 points (including a 9.43-point “Stalefish KGB 5”), while Erick Anderson posted 31.53 points to hold 3rd ahead of Carlos Mario (27.27 pts). On his seventh and final attempt, however, Gianmaria Coccoluto went for a “Back Mobe 7” to pad his lead and crashed—leaving the door wide open for 2nd-place Maxime Chabloz on the final trick of the heat.
Sitting on a lowest counting score of 6.30, Maxime Chabloz needed a 6.86 or higher on his seventh attempt to overtake Gianmaria Coccoluto for the event win—which would simultaneously hand the 2022 World Title to Manoel Soares waiting on the beach.
Maxime Chabloz launched into a “Nose Grab Slim Chance 7” and rode away, freezing the entire beach as everyone waited for the judges’ calculation. When the score flashed up at 6.50 points—just 0.36 points shy of the 6.86 required (32.83 vs. 32.47)—Gianmaria Coccoluto erupted in celebration, claiming his maiden GKA event victory and snatching the 2022 GKA Freestyle World Championship by 50 ranking points (2,470 pts to Manoel Soares’s 2,420 pts).
[Men’s Division Final Results]
1st: Gianmaria Coccoluto (Italy) — 32.83 pts
2nd: Maxime Chabloz (Switzerland) — 32.47 pts
3rd: Erick Anderson (Brazil) — 31.53 pts
4th: Carlos Mario (Brazil) — 27.27 pts
[Women’s Division Final Results]
1st: Mikaili Sol (Brazil) — 31.67 pts
2nd: Bruna Kajiya (Brazil) — 27.98 pts
3rd: Rita Arnaus (Spain) — 26.70 pts
4th: Nathalie Lambrecht (Sweden) — 23.53 pts
[2022 GKA Freestyle Overall World Championship Standings Top 3]
• Men’s Overall Ranking: 1st Gianmaria Coccoluto (Italy, 2,470 pts) *2022 World Champion / 2nd Manoel Soares (Brazil, 2,420 pts) / 3rd Carlos Mario (Brazil, 2,070 pts)
• Women’s Overall Ranking: 1st Mikaili Sol (Brazil, 2,870 pts) *2022 World Champion / 2nd Bruna Kajiya (Brazil, 2,440 pts) / 3rd Rita Arnaus (Spain, 2,310 pts)
Search Aliases: 2022 Taiba Copa Kitley GKA Freestyle World Cup, 2022TaibaCopaKitleyGKAFreestyleWorldCup