Day 2 Junior X Games
IT'S A WIDE OPEN FIELD AT
THE DISNEY CHANNEL/ESPN JUNIOR X GAMES II presented by TOYOTA
4 December 2000 PHUKET:
Bicycle Stunt Finals
13-year-old Steve Cadona was the first Event Winner (Bike Stunt Vert) at this year's Disney Channel/ESPN Junior X Games II presented by TOYOTA. In a repeat of last year's event, Australians dominated the bicycle stunt vert competition held last night. Nineteen other Asia-Pacific riders pulled off some stylish tricks but found it hard to match his impressive repertoire of stunts. Steve (who placed second in the same event last year) came in ahead of team-mate David Reed (Silver medal). Indonesia's Candra Pumamawan (14) collected the Bronze.
Bicycle stunt pro Koji Kraft noted that many of the Asian athletes must have been working overtime on their skills: "the standard has increased, even in the six weeks since I was last here in Asia," he said. "They're trying a lot of hard stuff out there". Chien Chun's (Chinese Taipei) peg grabs caught Koji's attention in the Park competition: "I didn't think I'd see that". But in the finals, Steve Cadona again proved to be the man of the moment, winning the competition. David Reed again placed second, with Singapore's Kasyful Azeem bin Sarrip winning the Bronze medal. The tables were turned in the Best Trick component, as Kasyful came in at top spot, with Wang Chien Chan in second, and Steve placing third.
The Flatland competition saw Thailand win its first Gold medal of the Games. Pitakpong Jeyakain's (15) control and balance took him to the top spot, ahead of silver medalist Mukhsin Kamalrudin (14) from Singapore and 3rd place-getter, Komson Direk-rit (14) of Thailand.
Aggressive In-Line Skating
Over on the park course, the in-line skaters were going through their stuff in the park, slalom and best trick finals. With so many talented athletes coming through the ranks, the level of competition was so high that it was nearly impossible to pick an early winner. But at the end of the day, Japan's Kazuki Imai (14) will be packing the Park event gold medal in his suitcase. Thailand's Surawat Bomrungkit (14) came second, with Takeshi Jasutoko (14) of Japan third. In the Slalom, Takeshi's 24.72 second sprint around the course sped him to first place, ahead of Surawat and Thailand's Worapoj Boonim (15). The Best Trick competition was won by Soichiro Kanashima (14); Takeshi finished in second place and Worapoj won the Bronze medal.
CJ "Tomato" Wellsmore, who had gave last year's audience plenty of laughs, injured himself during practice yesterday and wasn't able to compete in the park events. He will be lining up for tomorrow's vert competition, though.
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| James Kassey, age 15 of Australia. |
Sport Climbing
The climbing wall was smoking with some double-quick action as the bouldering and speed finals got under way. The Filipino's fared well against the Australians in both the women's and men's bouldering/speed climbing semi-finals. And we saw some new faces out of China and Korea.
Earlier, Tagoy S Ledesma (14) of the Philippines had talked about his passion for the sport, "Speed climbing is action packed, it's just explosive!" His enthusiasm paid off later that evening as he raced to the Gold medal in the Boys' Speed competition, ahead of Australia's James Kassay (15) and Andrew Robles (14) from the Philippines. Wei Sheng Ju (13) from China collected the Gold in the Girls' Speed, ahead of silver medalist Lee Su-Min (11) from Korea and Amanda Newing (14) from Australia.
The course setters had been working hard to create a course that would bring out the best in the competitors, and we saw the results in the Bouldering finals. As each athlete pushed themselves to the limits, the tension was palpable. The results say it all - James Kassay (15), Khairul Hafiz ( ) from Malaysia and Andrew Robles shared equal first ranking in the Boy's Bouldering event. Amanda Newing claimed first place in the Girls' Bouldering event, while Wei Sheng Ju and Lee Su-Min shared second spot.
In between their events, the 130 Junior athletes found time to make new friends, pick up some tips from the pros and just have fun. Eleven-year old bike stunt junior athlete Shariman Rusdee Bin Morshidi from Malaysia has successfully qualified for the finals. His father said, "this is the first ever Asian-wide competition Shariman has competed in. He has made lots of friends from Australia and Thailand and thinks Sean Peters is awesome!"
After watching the first Junior X Games on the Disney Channel Taiwan, Wang Chien Chun (15) from Chinese Taipei got so inspired he decided to take up the sport himself. Flushed with success from the recent Taipei Xtour Chien Chun is performing some awesome moves at this year's competition.
Jacob B Whalen (15), also from Chinese Taipei gave some helpful tips to other athletes which has helped him focus: "Don't be afraid, whenever you want to try something different just try your best and success will come!"
For more success stories, look out for tomorrow's update from Phuket.
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