The first day of action at the 2016 IKA World Championships began in Sardinia today ©IKA

The first day of action at the 2016 International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) World Championships began in Porto Pollo, Sardinia, today with action in both the freestyle and big air categories.

At the 10am skippers meeting, it was announced that competition would start with the freestyle event and then move on to the big air tournament as the conditions appeared to favour that order.

In round one of the men's freestyle, the Dominican Republic's Ariel Corniel was upset by Great Britain's Tom Bridge.

Bridge produced a score of 18.33 to advance straight to the quarter-finals and beat Corniel who could only manage a 17.56 which saw him drop to round two.

Corniel then managed to successfully eliminate Germany's Marius Hoppe to secure himself a place in the quarter-finals.

Hendrick Burgers of Aruba, meanwhile, put up a valiant effort against the explosive Dominican rider Posito Martinez, however he fell well short of securing himself a victory, losing by a margin of just over 20 points.

The Aruban was forced into round two where he produced a score of 21.47 to secure a convincing win over Italian Jacopo Cantini, who managed 4.7 points, and progress to the quarter-finals.

Action continues in the freestyle event tomorrow with the quarter-finals consisting of four heats comprised of three competitors.

Due to weather it was announced that competition would start with the freestyle event and then move on to the big air tournament in the afternoon ©IKA
Due to weather it was announced that competition would start with the freestyle event and then move on to the big air tournament in the afternoon ©IKA

In round one of the women's freestyle, Brazilian Estefania Rosa showed her dominance, landing a number of tricks in challenging conditions to score 6.74 to advance to tomorrow's semi-finals.

Bibiana Magaji of Slovakia, who currently leads the overall women's big air standings, also delivered a good display in the freestyle event.

Magaji scored 6.66 points to advance straight to the semi-finals.

The big air competitions for both men and women also began today with the strong and sometimes unpredictable wind adding an exciting element for spectators.

In the women's event, once again tour leader Magaji showed her class and it will be very unlikely she loses the title tomorrow.

She beat Italian duo Irene Tagliente and Giulia Piccioni to progress to the semi-finals.

In the men's draw, Lewis Crathern, Marius Hoppe, Posito Martinez and Burgers all produced stunning displays with an array of big kiteloops and spins, often combined with a handle pass or two, to all advance to tomorrow's semi-finals.