The 6Star Oakley Arctic Challenge done with the qualification round
The 6Star Oakley Arctic Challenge has come down to its’ final stages with the men and women qualification wrapping up at Wyllerløypa on February 17 in Oslo, Norway. The women qualification did not go as planned as a number of riders were missing from the
qualifiers because of injuries.
Eventually, the ladies fit enough to be present at the qualifications scene got a walk-through to the semi-finals, giving them an extra day for practice. The men and women semi-finals will be held on the 18th, with the final scheduled to take place one day
after the semi-finals.
The first round of men’s qualifications remained pretty modest with the riders pulling off stylish but not so unique tricks, and concentrating on steady landings. Of course it would have been absurd to have expected a flurry of original tricks from them,
runs that they will be reserving for the later stages of the contest. Right now, they simply wanted to prove their potential and skills and the modest runs pretty much served the purpose.
The rider taking the lead in the qualifying round took everyone by surprise. It was Sweden’s Sven Thorgren. He currently places 104 in the Swatch TTR World Tour Ranking, and such an impact was not expected of him. His riding exhibited an impressive level
of technicality, further enhanced by his style and ability to string it all together into something really exceptional. Surprised at finding himself on top, Thorgren said, “I never expected to qualify as number one, I´m so stoked!”
Another highlight of the qualification came from the 17-year-old American rider Tyler Flanagan and Canada’s 19-year-old Zak Stone, both executing huge 1080 double corks to make their runs an epitome of technical tricks exhibited in the qualifying round.
The complete list of snowboarders securing a place into the semi-finals after the first round of qualifying round is as follows:
1. Sven Thorgren
2. Morgan Ethan
3. Chas Guldemond
4. Tyler Flanagan
5. Sam Hulbert
6. Ulrik Badertscher
7. Per Iver Grimsrud
8. Seppe Smits
9. Sage Kotsenburg
10. Torgeir Bergrem
11. Emil Andre Ulsletten
12. Janne Korpi
13. Aleksander Østreng
14. Martin Skogholt
15. Eric Willett
16. Gjermund Bråten
17. Mark Mcmorris
18. Zak Stone
19. Patrick Burgener
20. Benji Farrow
The Oakley Arctic Challenge is a 6Star event where the world’s best riders are competing in the slopestyle discipline. Everyone is extremely determined to triumph in this challenge as the winner will be walking away with really attractive rewards. The reward
comprises of a large slice of the $ 100,000 prize purse, and more importantly 1000 TTR Ranking points.
Grabbing these points at every given opportunity has become extremely crucial for anyone hoping to improve their final Swatch TTR Tour standings now. The current season of TTR World Tour is going to wrap up at the Burton US Open, where the men and women
Champion titles would be awarded. Oakley Arctic Challenge happens to be the last 6Star event before the Burton US Open.
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