O’Neill Evolution – Day four
With a 7.8 meters high air and a 6.8 meter bs720, the qualification round of the O’Neill Evolution 2009 Quarterpipe set an impressive standard for the finals.
The two standout runs came from eighteen-year-old French rider Oli Gittler in the first round, and from the amazingly young fourteen-year-old Dimi de Jong in the second round.
“The quarterpipe feels super good this year. I just have to try some new tricks as well.”
Steve Krijbolder
Oli set the standard with a 4.8m McTwist, a stylish 5.4m roast beef grab and a 5.1m rocket air. With the judges looking for a variety of tricks and style, the Frenchman cruised through.
“It’s all about guts, the quarterpipe. I just put on my hard music and get pumped up before going down the in-run,” said Oli, dripping with stoke.
The French rider will be one to watch in the finals with his plethora of tricks and his style and consistency. “I may have a few more tricks left for the finals, but I am not going to tell anyone,” he said.
An then there’s De Young. After qualifying for the slopestyle, the Dutch O’Neill rider went one better on the quarterpipe – qualifying top for the finals with a 5.5m double grab bs air, a bs720 of 6.8m.
“It’s cool to finish top, but really it’s the same thing as finishing seventh or something – it is just about qualifying for the finals,” Dimi said.
The highest air of the day went to another young Dutch O’Neill rider, Steve Krijbolder. The seventeen-year-old might as well have had wings as he flew with a massive 7.8m bs air. It follows his impressive performance in the finals last year.
“I already went higher than I did last year,” Steve said. “The quarterpipe feels super good this year. I just have to try some new tricks as well.”
The event continues tonight when some of the biggest names in snowboarding will battle it out in the knockout heats at the Slopestyle finals.
“Go big,” head judge Dani Kiwi Meier has advised. “We are also looking for variety. You need to do a different trick on the second kicker to make it count as a different run. It will force the riders to mix it up with a little variation.”
And it will no doubt guarantee an action-packed final for The O’Neill Evolution 2009.
To catch all the action, check out the HUCK blog every day or go to HUCK TV for live coverage of the event live from Davos, Switzerland.
QUALIFIED RIDERS FOR THE QUARTERPIPE:
1 De Jong Dimi NED 153.00
2 Gittler Olivier FRA 150.66
3 Roux Jean Jacques FRA 144.00
4 Krijbolder Steve NED 141.33
5 Van Straten Rocco NED 134.00
6 Thomas-Javid Benoit FRA 131.33
7 Oesch Adrian SUI 127.34
8 Franc Thomas SUI 124.00
9 Falkeis Stefan AUT Kauns 1983 Amplid 119.67
10 Badertscher Ulrik NOR Åenby 1988 NikeACG 116.33
11 Boscacci Nicola SUI Magliaso 1989 Nitro 115.34
12 Sørensen Pål NOR 97.67
13 Hofgaard Mats NOR 89.67
14 Vagheggi Davide ITA 82.33
15 Kröll Christian AUT 81.00
16 Stewart Ben NZL 72.67
RIDERS
The confirmed invited riders are:
Chas Guldemond
Janne Korpi
Seb Toutant
Stefan Gimpl (slopestyle only)
Antti Autti
Risto Mattila
Peetu Piiroinen
Gian Simmen
Eirik Haugo
Frederik Evensen
Henning Marthinsen
Kim-Rune Hansen
Tim Humphries
Manuel Pietropoli (quarterpipe only)
Colin Frei
Iouri Podlatchikov
Arthur Longo
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O’Neill Evolution – Day four (text) by HUCK HQ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK License.
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