Nike Street League Skateboarding World Tour 2015 In Barcelona News. The world’s best street skateboarders converged upon Barcelona this weekend for the SLS Nike SB Pro Open and the biggest opportunity in skateboarding: to compete against the elite Street League Skateboarding (SLS) professional roster for the chance to join the ranks of the 2015 SLS Nike SB World Tour. Claiming victory to start the season strong was Nyjah Huston, taking home the $20,000 cash prize and the Golden Ticket to this year’s Super Crown. Coming up just short with his last trick but claiming second place was fellow SLS Pro Paul Rodriguez, followed by newcomer Evan Smith who will be joining the tour this season along with Cody McEntire.
Barcelona has long been considered Europe’s mecca of street skateboarding, with an incomparable abundance and variety of prime skate spots to attract the best amateur and professional skateboarders. Launching their global program unlocking this prestigious event series to the world’s top non-SLS talent, the 2015 SLS Nike SB Pro Open took place on the newly built permanent Skate Agora BDN Barcelona concrete skate plaza, a project brought to life by Lateral Thinking and Nike SB in collaboration with the City of Badalona and California Skateparks. Skate Agora BDN Barcelona hosted the qualifying event that offered a $75,000 prize purse and granted the two highest-scoring non-SLS Pros a spot in the coming season of globally televised arena events across the United States. While the SLS Nike SB Pro Open offered existing SLS Pros the chance to earn vital Championship Points that contribute to their inclusion in the SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship SLS Pros and Qualifiers laid it on the line to compete for the first-place $20,000 cash prize and the highly coveted Golden Ticket straight to the SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship in October.
The 2015 SLS Nike SB Pro Open kicked off on Saturday with the Qualifier heats that pitted the 30 very best non-SLS Pros from around the world against one another to determine the Top Eight who would continue to the Semi Finals on Sunday. In order of placing, the top eight skaters were Evan Smith, Nassim Guammaz, Chris Joslin, Cody McEntire, Moses Adams, Youness Amrani, Louie Lopez and Ryo Sejiri. First-place Qualifier Evan Smith also scored a 9.0 to win the Monster Energy Highest Scoring Trick with a lofty Backside Ally-oop 360 Nose Grab to Fakie over the two hips on the quarterpipe.
Day Two began with the Semi Finals in which the eight Qualifiers came up against the roster of elite SLS Pros to again whittle the field down to the top eight that advanced to the Finals. With a new format giving the contestants two 45-second shots in the Run Section to express themselves through the park and five Best Trick attempts which really let the athletes shine, the Semi Finals highlights included:
- Ever-solid Cody McEntire showing his skills in the Best Trick section throwing down a huge Backside Kickflip over the bench on the volcano followed by a perfect Bigspin Heelflip down the stairs, both scoring an impressive 8.1.
- In his typical go-big style, Ryan Sheckler got the crowd on their feet with a high-speed Ollie over the planter box to the bank beyond for a well-deserved 8.6, followed by a massive Backside 360 Ollie over the volcano all the way to the flat, unfortunately slipping out upon landing and denying him a place in the Finals.
- SLS Pro Manny Santiago owned the seven-stair handrail with a smooth Varial Heelflip Boardslide scoring 8.1, followed by a perfect Varial Heelflip Backside 50-50 for an 8.5 – both technical tricks that take confidence and courage, and definitely of Street League standard.
- Nike SB pro Shane O’Neill stopped the show with a solid 45-second run starting with a Nollie Backside Boardslide down the handrail, rolling into a Nollie Kickflip Noseslide on the ledge, a 360 Shove-it over the wedge-to-wedge gap and finishing with a Switch Double 360 Flip down the stairs to earn a 9.4 and a place in the Nine Club. Putting him at the top of the Leader Board for the heat, O’Neil then stomped a perfect Kickflip Backside Lipslide down the rail for 8.8 during the Best Trick section.
- Top Qualifier Evan Smith kept his standards high with a massive Frontside Kickflip Stalefish Grab on the quarterpipe, breaking his board but continuing on to again land a cleaner and bigger make of Saturday’s highest-scoring trick: Backside Ally-oop 360 Nose Grab to Fakie, rolling away with a smile and a spot in the Finals as the only non-SLS Pro Wildcard.
- Coming up in the SLS Nike SB Pro Open last year and going all the way to the 2014 SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship, Matt Berger gave it his best with big moves such as his Frontside Hurricane over gap to rail and Backside 270 Boardslide down the handrail, unfortunately not enough to see him continue through to the Finals.
For full highlights and re-airs of the exclusive SLS Nike SB Pro Open webcast visit www.StreetLeague.com – The exclusive kick-off special of the 2015 SLS Nike SB Pro Open will take place on FOX Sports 1 on May 28 at 8:00pm ET for audiences in the United States. Skateboarding fans in the USA can watch the entire 2015 SLS Nike SB World Tour on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports GO while fans around the world can catch the official Street League live webcasts on StreetLeague.com.
SLS NIKE SB WORLD TOUR DATES AND VENUES:
- July 11 SLS Nike SB World Tour: Stop One | Galen Center at USC | Los Angeles, CA
- August 23 SLS Nike SB World Tour: Stop Two | Prudential Center | Newark, NJ
- October 4 SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship | UIC Pavilion | Chicago, IL
FOX SPORTS 1 TELECAST SCHEDULE:
2015 SLS Nike SB Pro Open Kick-Off Special: Thursday, May 28 (8:00PM–10:00PM ET)
2015 SLS Nike SB World Tour: Los Angeles: LIVE: Saturday, July 11 (10:00PM–11:30PM ET)
2015 SLS Nike SB World Tour: New Jersey: LIVE: Sunday, August 23 (5:00PM–6:30PM ET)
2015 SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship: LIVE: Sunday, October 4 (5:00PM–7:00PM ET)
