Sydney, Australia
On Saturday, July 7, we held the Sydney leg of the éS Game of SKATE 2007. Aaron from 99 Degrees and I decided to kick off the Game at about 1:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 a.m. after we got some calls from the city crew that there where a bunch of kids heading our way from downtown. Among the entries were heavy hitters such as éS Australia team rider Ian Grey, Jamie Hawley, Pedro Day and last year's Sydney winner, Pete Dalmer. Everyone anticipated a great Game. We had a fair posse of around 200 spectators plus 50 competitors hoping to flip their way to victory.
After the first two rounds, we decided to break up the day a bit and held an impromptu best trick contest down the hubba ledge / six-stair / rail. Ian took it out with a switch big spin heelflip down the six stair. Notable mentions go out to George Kousoulis, Ben James, Mini-P, Juice Shirt, Pedro and the random hibiscus shirt dude who sacked himself on the rail sooo bad!
In the next rounds, there where several flawless games with Pedro, Jono Power, Pete and Ben landing every trick. When the Finals came around, we ran a four-man game with Rhys Green, Leo Townsend, Pete and Pedro all fighting it out for top honors. The first casualty was Rhys, followed Pete. Many thought Pedro had it in the bag at this point, but obviously they’d underestimated Leo's tech wizardry. Leo had been quietly and efficiently taking out his competition all day, and the Finals proved to be no exception. The day wrapped up at about 5:00 p.m. with Leo being crowned the éS Game of SKATE 2007 King of Sydney.
Thanks to Aaron Jenkins / 99 Degrees, Troy West, Biggie and Getrad for all helping out with the judging and making the day possible! See ya’ll in Melbourne on July 21!--Aek Fisher