Guenther Oka triumphs at Pooltastic 2025 at boot Düsseldorf
Pooltastic at boot Düsseldorf–a perfect match. This year, US pro Guenther Oka wins the contest ahead of up-and-coming talent Daniel Klechshar and Liam Rundholz.
The second weekend of boot Düsseldorf was once again dominated by wakeboarders and reached its grandiose climax with the Pooltastic final on Saturday. Before that, however, the qualification was on the program on Friday in the long-established mode. A total of six boys competed to secure one of three places for the final on Saturday.
And these six, namely Pepe Kienzler, Justin Spenner, Henri Dollenberg, Tobias Färbers and the two talented youngsters Daniel Klechshar and Jan-Luca Schulz, who have already won World Championship titles, really got going. Among other things, they performed 7s, grabbed 5s, scarecrow mobius and massive airtime on the kicker as well as lots of style and techy tricks on the Jersey Barrier Rail. In the end, Tobi, Jan-Luca and Daniel were able to secure their ticket for the final–but they only found out about it at the Cable Mekka Awards Show in the evening at the Atelier Kino in downtown Düsseldorf. The head-to-head pairings for the first final round on Saturday were also drawn there.
These were as follows:
| Rider 01 | Rider 02 | |
| Tobias Färbers (GER) | vs. | Guenther Oka (USA) |
| Daniel Kleshchar (UKR) | vs. | Miles Töller (GER) |
| Carlo Hüsing (GER) | vs. | Liam Rundholz (GER) |
| Jan-Luca Schulz (GER) | vs. | Jan Gnerlich (GER) |
Gladiators in the final
This is how close the viewers are to Pooltastic
The wrap-up of the Head-To-Head is done quite quickly, as the decisions were comparatively clear in all pairings. Favorite Guenther Oka prevailed against qualifier Tobias Färbers. The first surprise came from Daniel Kleshchar, who had only managed to secure a place in the final by qualifying, where he eliminated last year’s third-placed rider Miles Töller. Carlo Hüsing fluffed his heats, meaning that Liam Rundholz was able to prevail quite unchallenged. Finally, the newly crowned Rookie Of The Year Jan-Luca Schulz gave the face of the new boot Düsseldorf campaign, Jan Gnerlich, no chance and took the last place in the Super Final.
In the final, the four boys each had 100 seconds to convince the judges around head judge Nicklas Dorfer of their skills. Jan-Luca, who had really stepped on the gas in the preliminary round, wasn’t quite able to perform his tricks as intended and had to settle for fourth place in the end. Still respectable for his first appearance at boot Düsseldorf. Liam Rundholz, who finished ahead of him, impressed above all with maximum control on the rail. Second place went to another newcomer, Daniel Kleshchar, who amazed the audience with a FS 360 Rewind on the kicker, among other things. However, Guenther Oka, who had traveled to the event the day before and was actually only standing in for his injured Liquid Force team buddy Gavin Stuckey, coped best with the setup. His wrapped KGB 5 and extreme style paired with technically demanding tricks on the rail left no room for doubt.
Scroll through the gallery for some great moments from the contest:
What stands out: The new hall concept with dark walls, targeted use of light and the reduced look with containers helps to present the action even better. The spectators have a perfect view and were able to experience up close what was happening on the pool. That’s exactly how it should be!
Congratulations to Guenther on his win, but also to the other guys–and thank you for an incredible show. We are already looking forward to Pooltastic 2026. Then again at the end of January at boot Düsseldorf.
Photos: boot Düsseldorf & Schielke
