The fields are set for a Saturday showdown at the Dew Tour Skate Open, ISF Skateboarding World Championships in Boston. Today’s action in Skate Park saw a field of 43 international skaters from 14 countries battling it out for 15 spots in Saturday’s semis.
Click here for Skate Open Park Prelim Highlights
Leading the pack with a tied score of 85.25, yet two very distinct styles, were Jordan Hoffart and Bastien Salabanzi. Bastien, a newbie to the Dew Tour, surgically dissected the park course and landed his first nine tricks in a row. Jordan tore the course apart with a barrage of tricks that culminated in a large ollie across and over the kinked rail.
“I was just standing in the corner, and I thought to myself, ‘I bet I can ollie that,’” Hoffart said. “I barely cleared that, but it’s always nice to come up with a new line.”
Following them were three international guys; Mario Saenz from Mexico, Philippe Zwijsen from Belgium and Alex Mizurov from Germany.
Finland’s Jani Laitiala was the top-qualifier for Heat One, and his score held on through the nine heats for a seventh-place finish.
The biggest stories coming out of Friday’s prelims were Jereme Rogers and Aquil Brathwaite, both New Englanders.
Jereme Rogers and Aquil Brathwaite
Rogers showed no rust despite taking a year off from competition. He was flowing through the course and dropping switch tricks left and right in front of his hometown crowd while getting used to the new jam-in-order format.
“I like the new format, personally,” Rogers said. “I’m a little older, I’m a grown man now, I’m 25, so it gives me time to breathe in between. If a kid’s 16 and I can skate just as well as him, his endurance and stamina is going to be different, so this evens out the playing field a little bit”
New to the Dew Tour was Aquil Brathwaite, who surprised even himself by qualifying in a very respectable ninth place.
Aquil Brathwaite
“It’s pretty amazing, my first time out,” Brathwaite said. “I didn’t even expect I was really going to do that well so to come out and qualify, that’s unreal. Everyone pretty much showed love. The Dew Tour and Alli people are amazing.”
The locals definitely had an advantage, with Bostonians Anthony Shetler and Eli Reed both making the cut. Shetler skated early and placed 11th to advance to tomorrow’s semis. This was his first attempt to qualify, and he made good use of the entire course. Reed eked out the final spot and will be back for more tomorrow.
Eli Reed
“I’m excited to give it another shot,” Reed said. “I was bummed because I felt like I was messing up at the end of my heat. I’ll definitely be more on top of my game tomorrow.”
