Skate Open Kicks Off with Skate Vert IQs

One down, nine to go.

In the first round of competition at this year’s Skate Open, ISF Skateboarding World Championships, 21 international qualifiers battled it out for just eight open spots in today’s vert prelims.

Kicking things off, Neal Hendrix (aka the oldest competitor in the international round of qualifying) took the early lead… but it didn’t last for long. In his Dew Tour debut, Sam Beckett eked out a final trick as the buzzer sounded on his initial run to nab the top spot, besting himself in his second run with a trio of 540s to bump his score up to 77.25.

With Sam and Neal holding down the top two, the second heat of Tour hopefuls took to the vert ramp.

Right out of the gate in heat two, Lincoln Ueda’s first run put the rest of the field to shame, and, despite falling on the rest of his runs, his score of 81.25 could not be beat for the remainder of the international qualifiers. Also coming out of heat two, Danny Mayer used his trademark discipline and focus to string together big tricks into a strong run, claiming second place on the night.

Lincoln Ueda used his height, like on this boosty 540, to claim the top spot

Making a valiant run at the Ueda’s mark in the final heat of the night, 15-year-old Pedro Barros pulled his board and a 78.25 out of the air to take the third qualifying position. This kid is the real deal so watch for this youngster for the rest of the weekend, as he’s sure to make a name for himself before it’s all over.

With seven Brazilians competing last night (including Barros), a whopping four of them moved on to today’s prelims, where they, and the rest of the top eight from last night’s competition, will be taking on the Dew Tour’s prequalified skaters, including the likes of Sandro Dias, Bob Burnquist and Adam Taylor and last years’s Dew Cup Champion Bucky Lasek. 

Results
1. Lincoln Ueda, 81.25
2. Danny Mayer, 79.25
3. Pedro Barros, 78.25
4. Sam Beckett, 77.25
5. Marcelo Bastos, 77.00
6. Neal Hendrix, 74.25
7. Juergen Horrwarth, 73.75
8. Ronaldo Gomes, 72.75

For full results throughout the weekend, head over here.