Semi-Finals for most events were on the agenda at the 2013 ICF World Freestyle Championships in Bryson City, NC today.
The day started off at noon, with Men’s and Women’s Squirt boating Semi-Finals. The boaters had two runs, with their best of the two determining their overall score. Clay Wright (USA) posted a 1, 220 point first run, which earned him top spot going into the Finals. Dane Jackson (USA) also had a good first run, scoring 1,076 points, which put him into second place. Rounding out the Top 5 athletes going into tomorrow’s Final are Max Karlsson (SWE) with 866 points, Jeremy Laucks (USA) with 796 points and Benjamin Aldred (GBR) with 523 points.
In Women’s squirt boating action, Claire O’Hara maintained her first place position easily with a 900 point lead, earning herself 1,253 points. Completing the Top 5 are Motoko Ishida (JPN) with 390 points, Elaine Campbell (USA) with 553 points, Hitomi Takaku (JPN) with 293 points and Yoshiko Suematsu (JPN) with 243 points. Tomorrow, we find out if O’Hara will once again nab the Women’s World Squirt Champion title.
In K1 Junior Men, Alec Vorhees (USA) was able to sweep top spot with 966 points. Bennett Smith (USA) is close behind and takes second place, with 945 points. Also moving on to tomorrow’s finals are Max Karlsson (SWE) with 916 points, Hunter Katich (USA) with 833 points and Thomas Richard (FRA) with 690 points.
Tad Dennis (USA) was able to unseat Jordan Poffenberger (USA) going into tomorrow’s Final with 1,086 point ride, which at press time was the unconfirmed highest score in ICF history of C1. Dane Jackson (USA) came second with 893 points. The other three men advancing to the final tomorrow are Poffenberger with 736 points, Sebastien Devred (FRA) with 690 points, and Seth Chappelle (USA) with 640 points.
Wrapping up the day was the nighttime rodeo for Men’s and Women’s K1 Semi-Finals, where the Top 10 from each division faced off to try and secure a spot in tomorrow’s Final. Claire O’Hara (GBR) maintained her first place position with a 575 point ride, while Ekaterina Kulkova (RUS) was only points behind with a score of 546 points. Also advancing to finals are Hitomi Takaku (JPN) with 413 points, Anne Hubner (GER) with 410 and Adriene Levknecht (USA), also with 410 points. It’s a close race for the ladies, and the Final should be interesting to watch.
In Men’s K1, the competition was fierce, with non-stop action. The bar was set high from the beginning, as the first two rides of the evening scored above 1,000 points. Going into Finals tomorrow sitting in first place is Dane Jackson (USA) with 1,230 points. Only 27 points behind, Tomasz Czaplicki is sitting in second with 1,203. Also in the Top 5 going into tomorrow’s Final are Peter Csonka (SVK) with 1,113 points, Sebastien Devred (FRA) with 1, 073 points and Alan Ward (GBR) with 1,058 points. Nick Troutman (CAN) and Eric Jackson (USA) didn’t make the cut along with James Bebbington (GBR), who missed moving on to Semi’s yesterday. With three former World Champions out of the running, it’s anyone’s guess as to who could take home the title tomorrow, especially after watching such dynamic boating.
Finals take place for all events throughout the day tomorrow (September 8th). For a schedule of events, as well as a link to the LiveFeed, be sure to check out the 2013 ICF Freestyle Championships website.
