Words by: Cédric Dörig
Photos by: Oliver Maccabez

Welcome back to day two of the Freestyle.ch here in Zurich, Switzerland. Even the sun made the effort and showed up here on the Landiwiese. With the lake in the background and mild temperatures, the conditions were quite ideal for a beautiful day of competition. This is at least true for the spectators. Due to the slightly higher temperatures, the snow on the kicker has become a bit sluggish, so we will have to see what today’s starting riders will be able to achieve. But first, let’s look at who’s up:

1. Andri Ambühl, Switzerland
2. Elias Ambühl, Switzerland
3. Anders Backe, Norway
4. Xavier Bertoni, France
5. Philip Casabon, Canada
6. Paddy Graham, UK
7. Andreas Hatveit, Norway
8. Russel Henshaw, Australia
9. Thomas Hlawitschka, Germany
10. JF Houle, Canada
11. AJ Kemppainen, Finland
12. Thomas Kobel, Switzerland
13. Martin Misof, Austria
14. Colby West, USA

Elias, one of the youngest riders participating

So, which four of these fourteen riders will make it to the finals tomorrow? Before posting the results, we should at least look at what was to be seen here this afternoon.

Philip Casabon looks quite pleased with his performance

As expected, the kicker was difficult to ride this afternoon, mainly due to the fact that the snow had gotten more sluggish with the slightly higher temperatures. This resulted in several spectacular falls, one of which ended with Andreas Hatveit having to go to the hospital. We are happy to say that we saw him a few hours later, walking up to the riders’ hangout with his crutches. He even gave us an interview, which you will be able to see soon.

Andri Ambühl kicked of today’s qualification round

AJ Kemppainen’s first run

Thomas Kobel made us proud with a 5 reverse tail

On a more positive note, Colby West was able to please the crowd with a huge flatspin 5 japan. Martin Misof was also on top of his game today, with a switch backflip landed quite smoothly!

Colby West with his flatspin 5…

He just wants more…

Martin Misof in action

Nico Zacek having a chat with Colby West

Mix up all of that and you’ll end up with the following results:

1. Russell Henshaw, 182.5 points
2. Martin Misof, 172.5 points
3. Philip Casabon, 171 points
4. Colby West, 171 points
5. Anders Backe, 168 points
6. Thomas Kobel, 157.5 points
7. Andri Ambühl, 155.25 points
8. JF Houle, 146.25 points
9. Paddy Graham, 136.75 points
10. AJ Kemppainen, 131.75 points
11. Elias Ambühl, 113.75 points
12. Thomas Hlawitschka, 107.5 points
13. Xavier Bertoni, 35.5 points

As mentioned before, Andreas Hatveit was injured and could therefore not complete his three runs. The first four are qualified for tomorrow’s final.

Paddy Graham representing the UK with a cork 7 nose. Interview is coming soon

Anders Backe showing a cork 5 reverse tail

JF Houle’s cork 7 mute

Coming all the way from Australia with his flatspin 5 double japan

Xavier Bertoni, the only French rider starting today

Martin Misof and Nico Zacek checking out the crowd

Here are the results from the qualifications from the other sports:

Snowboard:

1. Scotty Lago, USA
2. Hampus Mosesson, Norway
3. Markus Keller, Switzerland
4. Risto Mattila, Finland
5. Stephan Maurer, Switzerland
6. Mathieu Crepel, France
7. Tim Humphreys, USA
8. Gian-Luca Cavigelli, Switzerland
9. Alessandro Boyens, Germany
10. Marc Swoboda, Austria
11. Janne Korpi, Finland
12. Torstein Horgmo, Norway
13. Dan Espen Larsen, Norway
14. Colin Frei, Switzerland

The first four are qualified for the finals tomorrow.

FMX:

1. Petr Pilat, Czech Republic
2. Charles Pagès, France
3. Vivian Gantner, Switzerland
4. Freddy Peters, Germany

The first three are qualified for the finals tomorrow.

One or two practice runs before the qualifications start

Skateboard:

1. Rodrigo Menezes, Brasil
2. Renton Millar, Australia
3. Neal Hendrix, USA
4. Jesse Fritsch, USA
5. Sam Beckett, UK
6. Jürgen Horrwarth, Germany

The first three are qualified for the finals tomorrow.

Thomas Kobel

Big turnout here on the Landiwiese

qualification freestyle.ch 2008, raiders.ch from ohaaP on Vimeo