While day five of the 2012 Ro Sham Throwdown started off with super light winds, conditions improved greatly by early Friday afternoon and Heat 3 Round 2 kicked off in Hood River’s world-renowned terrain park.
A mix of pros and amateur riders, the seven remaining competitors from the first round of Heat 3 all got a second stab at earning a coveted spot for the semi finals. With strong winds coming and going during the heat, contest officials put the competition on hold a couple of times, but the high level of performance stayed consistent throughout.
Delivering a well-rounded and technical barrage of tricks, Jon Van Malsen earned the highest score of the day, a 50.23, which overwrote his 40.55 from the round prior. Impressing the trio of judges with a slew of style, creativity and amplitude, Joby Cook received a 36.54, edging out Kellen Hall for the day by a mere .32 points.
However, the rules of the contest dictate that during the second leg of the double-elimination qualifying rounds (Heats 1, 2 and 3), a rider’s Round 1 score will carry over if he or she posts a lower score in Round 2. Such was the case with this heat, as Uruguayan kiter Oliver Umpiere outscored Cook ”” 39.14 to 39.07 ”” in the first round.
All 15 semi-finalists will ro-sham-bo for placement in the three five-man heats today. Pre-seeded heavyweights include Brandon Scheid, Eric Rienstra and Sam Light. Qualifiers include Alex Fox, Chris Bobyck, Craig Cunningham, Evan Netsch, Jake Kelsick, Jason Slezak, John Perry, Jon Van Malsen, Oliver Umpiere, Rich Sabo, Sam Medysky, and Tom Court.
REMAINING SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (subject to change due to wind conditions)
Sat. July 21: 11 a.m. Men’s Semi Finals, Men’s Finals, Wakeskate, then Freeriding
For more information, please visit www.SliderProject.com <https://www.SliderProject.com> . Follow the event on Facebook at facebook.com/TheSliderProject <facebook.com:TheSliderProject
Presented by The Slider Project, the 2012 Ro Sham Throwdown is sponsored by Liquid Force / Second Wind Sports, North Kiteboarding, Slingshot, Best Kiteboarding, Smith Optics, and additional support from Andrew’s Pizza.