June 7th-10th 2007
Words and footage courtesy of Kevin Parrott
All photos courtesy of Quiksilver
Oh yes! The second year in a row for the best bowlriding event in the world to hold its final at one of Europe’s best skate parks. The second year in a row for the event to have toilets installed for the thousands of visitors. The second year in a row for the podium to be a Euro only affair – Actually, it went one better this year. Yep. This time around the final consisted solely of Europeans. Not that I want to get competitive – but a solely European final in an international event of such stature. Hat’s off to Europe on the come up!
I think I’m getting ahead of myself here. We’d best go through in order and then talk about finals before we get to any sort of podium talk.
Yes – Malmo. This is my fifth visit although my first since the new park was installed to what is the third largest city in Sweden. You’ve not been under a rock for the past two years so I’ll not bang on about how amazing it is. You know that. You know that John Magnusson got in deep with the local government and went full force until Stapelbäddsparken became a reality. You know that from attending the event last year or at least reading about it on here and watching last years video. Right? If you didn’t – You have issues. Plain and simple. It’s cheaper to fly to Malmo than is is to get the train to Birmingham from London. Sort it out.
Anyway – The competition. For the 24 skaters in the quarters, last years top 8 were pre-qualified (and therefore avoiding the initial heats). Chris Senn, Ross Mcgouran, Rune Glifberg, Micky Iglesias, Alain GX, Chris Cudlipp, Andy Scott, and Daniel Cardone were the talented few to achieve this. Yeah, I know what you are thinking – but Omar Hassan and Benji Galloway were a no show so they got replaced.
Through the heats and quarter finals, Mattias Nylén had the runs of his life. 360 Indy’s over the spine, Frontside Blunts in the deep end. He couldn’t fall off. Andy Scott blew minds during the quarters. Alley-Oop Kickflip Mute in the deep like it ain’t no thang. John Magnusson has lines in this park. I guess it is fair to say that he has the advantage of knowing every inch of this park – literally. The one surprising thing was Daniel Cardone – and sadly not in the same way as last year. He fell off. A lot. I guess it just wasn’t his weekend. Everyone gets that.
Casper Plass just skating in the semis after taking a shoulder destroying injury was another surprise – this time a good one, though. Chris Cudlipp took his lanky street style into the bowls. I’m not sure if he is predominantly a streets skater to be fair – He just had that sort of pop you only get from clacking down the road and hopping onto ledges all day. Either way – he looked like he could handle himself wherever. Rune Glifberg, John Magnusson, Alain GX, Nicky Guerrero, Ross McGouran, Frederik Austbo Vince De Valle, Casper Plass, Chris Cudlipp, Andy Scott, Mattias Nylén and Alan Mesquita impressed during the quarters earning their spot in the semis.
Unluckily for Frederik Austbo he managed to injure himself during practice a little earlier. A quick round for the third place members from each heat to decide who would replace Frederik and it turns out that Daniel Cardone has another chance to impress. The performance didn’t last – Only Rune Glifberg, Ross McGouran, Alain GX, John Magnusson, Nicky Guerrero and Mattias Nylén made it through.
Rune cleaned up. It was clear he was in first place once the jam was over. Ross killed it. Do you know how good that lad is these days? No-Comply tailslides over the love seat every shot. John impressed. I don’t think he fell once – and he kept true to his intro video in which he said he doesn’t have the big tricks to rely on, so he’d best just stay on and hit every part of the park. Alain got all Danny Way on us. I don’t mean mage ramp style – Just all round domination be it hips, lines, lips or tits (All concrete of course). It was a tough one to judge beyond the winner. Bring on 2008!
Final Results:
1. Rune Glifberg
2. John Magnusson
3. Alain GX
4. Ross McGouran
5. Nicky Guerrero
6. Mattias Nylén
Check www.bowlriders.com for more.
