etnies

etnies Skate National Circuit: Portugal!

Posted by: Brink | Thursday, May 31, 2007 | 2 comments

Ricardo Fonseca, the only Portuguese skater who won the National Circuit for five consecutive times, is back to the victories. This weekend, in Torres Vedras, Fonseca took the first place in the opening competition of etnies Skate 07/08.

The Skate Park of Torres Vedras was the first stop for the national circuit etnies Skate 07/08, with over an hundred skaters, from all over the country, competing in the three categories: Initiate, Amateur and Professional.

Saturday was reserved for qualifications that were held in jam format with three skateboarders skating for three minutes, all together. Some girls showed up but they weren’t enough to set up a competition exclusive for them, so they join the boy competitions, with no problem. Marta Nery, with only 12 years old, was one of the surprises of the day, getting a place into the Initiate Finals. There were also some local skaters, with a nice level, showing the benefits of having a good skate park, close to the place they live. In the Professional qualifications, bad luck for Ruben Rodrigues and Nuno Relógio, being both eliminated in the qualifications.

In the first day, it was already clear to see that the street level was very high and the Sunday Finals promises to be one of the most disputed of always.

Sunday started with Initiates Finals. Kirill Andrade, one of the local skaters got the first place, by showing some nice Indy grabs, flips and a 50-50 grind 180º out. Guilherme Araújo, from Estoril, got 2nd place and Ricardo Ferreira, from Santa Catarina, got the 3rd in the Finals.

In the Amateurs, Bernardo Gomes, from Cascais did boardslide in the big rail and f/s 50-50 down the curb and ended in the 3rd place. The south skateboarder, André Nogueira, became 2nd with crooked grind, indy grab and b/s 5-0 down the rail. The first place went to Lisbon, for Miguel Limão doing some switch flip, smith grind, crocked, b/s ollie and b/s 50-50 grind.

The skateboard level was increasing at all time and the crowd was anxious for the Professional Finals. The current National Champion, Helder Lima, ended in 4th place doing b/s smith and nollie b/s lip in the big rail and nollie backside 5-0 down the curb. João Pinto became 3rd with b/s lipslide in the big rail, f/s lip in the pyramid box, switch big spin in the hip, and a big ollie transfer from the sub box to the roll in. Second place went to Santo André, with Rúben Gamito and his big flips, f/s feeble, smith grind, b/s lipslide and a huge nosebone transfers. And the first place went to Ricardo Fonseca, one of the biggest national skateboarders of ever, showing that he’s back to the victories. His first run was almost perfect, only failing one trick, and doing flip f/s 50 in the pyramid box, b/s lipslide in the big rail, f/s bluntslide down the curb, flip 360º in the hip and a big b/s hell in the Euro gap.

Rúben Gamito also did the Best Trick, a 360º flip to 5-0 grind in the pyramid box.

More info on Radical Skate Clube.