Mark McMorris and Spencer O’Brien prevail in 2012 O’Neill Evolution Big Air finals
Canada’s Mark McMorris and Spencer O’Brien emerged triumphant in the 6Star Big Air competition at the 2012 O’Neill Evolution that went down in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday, January 7.
The women’s field saw Switzerland’s Sina Candrian and Austria’s Anna Gasser finish in second and third place respectively to complete the podium.
In the men’s field, America’s Eric Willet finished in runner-up place, while Belgium’s Seppe Smits rounded out the podium.
With up to 1000 coveted Ticket to Ride (TTR) Rankings points and prize of USD $20,000 on offer, the riders were expected to holding nothing back during the finals of the O’Neill Evolution.
The women’s Big Air final featured a thrilling contest, but the 23-year-old O’Brien eventually stole the show with her second run that featured a massive front-side 720 Nose-bone on the jump, followed by a Lip-slide on the rail. The spectacular effort earned
her a score of 93.45, which served to seal the fate of the final in her favour.
Talking to a reporter after the final, O’Brien, “I am super excited over my second win of the season, especially with a trick that I haven’t really done that much. It was a good time here in Davos!”
The Swiss rider, Candrian, give her local supporters plenty of reason to cheer their lungs out as she pulled off a front-side 720 melon on the jump before executing a board-slide on the wall-ride to score 87.30 points in her second run.
It turned out to be a memorable night for the TTR World Snowboard Tour rookie, Gasser. Pulling off a back-side 540 mute grab on the jump and front-board to 50-50 front-side out on the rail in her final run, she earned a score of 74.30 to find a place on
the podium.
The men’s final turned out to be much more intense as compared to the women’s final as it came down to the last run. Willet had grabbed the lead during his first run and later improved this lead in his second run, which featured a switch back-side double
cork 1260 mute grab and a lip-slide to 270 out on the wall-ride, consequently moving to a score of 95.30 points.
The 18-year-old McMorris eventually managed to take the lead with his third run. He pulled off a near-perfect back-side double cork 1260 mute grab on the jump and later landed a gap switch hard-way to 270 out on the rail to earn 95.60 points, thus emerging
as the 2012 O’Neill Evolution Big Air Champion.
Smits rounded out the podium with a score of 90.48 in his third run, which included a cleanly executed cab 1440.
With the conclusion of the 6Star TTR event, the riders are left with only a few more chances to ensure their place in the World Snowboarding Championships that is scheduled to go down in Oslo, Norway, from February 10-19.
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