2006 Finals
And the winner is...Alex Mizurov!
The third annual Boost Mobile + éS Game of SKATE Amateur World Championships and 2006 Finals went down on Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Action Sports Retailer trade show in San Diego, California.
Alex Mizurov.
Chris Cole and just one corner of the massive crowd.
Entrants from around the world--including Europe, Australia, Japan, Canada and all over the United States--flew in just for the event, and sure enough, it was an unknown kid from Germany who unexpectedly claimed a major upset victory.
Jack Crook.
P.J. Ladd was sporting some sweet new kicks.
As a huge crowd of 2,000 to 3,000 people--including throngs of industry heads, kids and even quite a few parents--completely surrounded the four lanes, a plethora of video and digital cams captured all the action for posterity.
Mark Suciu.
Hot chicks were in the mix.
Gentle pro golf tournament-like refrains of "Oooh!" and "Aaah!" were heard frequently, punctuated by the occasional loud roar whenever someone bolts-landed a flawlessly executed and very difficult technical trick. Germany's Alex Mizurov took out all the ams and, eventually, all the pros to earn the top spot and a cool $10,000.
Clockwise from top left: Matix Team Manager Tony Evjenth grabs a big bite. The top three ams. Javier Sarmiento. Another token crowd shot.
Some am winners.
A total of 26 amateurs battled it out for about 90 minutes in the Amateur World Championships. As all the ams were whittled down to the top three, Saratoga California's Mark Suciu lost to Australia's Jack Crook on a full Cab flip and settled for third place. Jack lost to Alex Mizurov on a backside double flip for second.
P.J. Ladd.
Unknown. Chris Cole.
In the last moments of the 90-minute Finals, which boasted 53 pro entrants, Taylor Smith lost to Chris Cole on a switch double heel for third place, while Cole lost to Alex Mizurov on a switch backside 180 late kickflip for second.
These two went at it tooth and nail, repeatedly matching each other's ridiculous tricks and keeping the roaring crowd at the edge of their seats. It was a pretty big upset, as many had their bets placed on Chris Cole--especially considering he had knocked such heavy-hitters as P.J. Ladd out of the game earlier.
Left to right: éS Events Manager Mark Waters, Janae Twisselman from Boost Mobile, Alex Mizurov, éS Owner Pierre André, éS Brand Marketing Manager Matt Sharkey.
A big congratulations goes out to Alex Mizurov for skating hard for over three hours, winning two tournaments and generally taking the éS Game of SKATE by storm. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes at Boost Mobile, éS Footwear, TransWorld Skateboarding and Ogio, as well as all of the entrants at all of the games around the world, for making the éS Game of SKATE series such a huge success for the third year in a row. We'll see you next year.
View the pro and am brackets at Skatepark of Tampa.
Words and photos by Garry Davis.