SNOWBOARD 2012 RESULTS  |||||||||||   FREESKIING 2012 TF RESULTS

Spring sessions always rule, and the Burton & San Miguel Total Fight Masters of Freestyle held in the Andorran resort of Grandvalira was no exception this year, offering the highest quality of riding, burning sunshine, fresh snow and a cheering crowd to keep spirits high. The Coliflor Freestyle shapers spent the previous week carving magic into the slopestyle’s five modules, starting with a 10 metre long rail followed by an impressive San Miguel look alike 2 metres by 4,5 metres “can” and polished off by 3 massive crowd pleaser kickers. 

Big tricks ruled the day, with only 16 riders out of the original 31 qualifying through to the second round. The Norwegian Team Burton rider Kim Rune Hansen, who recently came second in the Quaterpipe World championships, dominated the first round with a Switch FS Slide on the first rail, followed by a Switch 50 to BS 180 Out on the San Miguel “can” and neatly polished off with a perfect FS 7 Melon on the first kicker, a super stylish BS 5 Mute on the second and a Switch FS 9 on the last.

To go through to the next round, each rider was paired against another, with only one rider per pair making it through. The pairings were as follows: Kim Rune Hansen (1º) against Spaniard Carles Turner (16º), Finnish rider Valtteri Paunonen (2º) against the Norwegian Joachim Krogstie (15º), Finn Hanri Lakkonen (3º) against the Argentinean Santi Gamen who actually hurt himself and chose to be paired against the Spaniard Albert Piñol (14º), Finnish rider Ville Paumola (4º) against the Spaniard Isaac Vergés (13º), German rider Patrick Cinca (5º) against the Argentinean Facundo Vial (12º), Finn Roni Rintale (6º) against the Argentinean rider Nico Fuentes (11º), Finnish rider Ville Uotila (7º) against the Argentinean rider Mattias Schmitt (10º) and finally the Finnish rider Nuuti Niemela (8º) was paired against his fellow countryman Tommi Rokolampi (9º).

After an intense battle on the slopes only 8 riders were left to compete for the finals, with Kim Rune Hansen (1º) seeming to lead the pack with a Switch FS Slide followed by a 50/50 and a BS 7 Tailgrab, BS Rodeo Mute finished and a Switch BS Melon on the last three kickers. For this round, Hansen was paired against Patrick Cinca (8º), Nuuti Niemela (2º) against Ville Uotila (7º), Hanri Lakkonen (3º) against Ville Paumola (6º) and Valtteri Paunonen (4º) was paired against the Argentinean rider and Grandvalira local Nico Fuentes (5º).

Knowing that they had nothing left to lose to get to the finals, the remaining 8 riders pulled out their best tricks, Nuuti Niemela especially surprised everyone with his inspired BS Double Cork on the last kicker, effectively eliminating the undefeated champion of the last few Total Fight’s, Ville Uotila.

The finals of any competition are the real nail biters, and the 2012 Total Fight was no exception, with three Finnish riders, Paumola, Niemela, Paunonen and one German, Cinca, preparing to fight it out on the grounds of the scorching El Tarter Snowpark.

Each rider had three chances to outshine each other, and the crowd wasn’t complaining, but it was finally the Finnish rider Nuuti Niemela who stole the day with a spectacular FS Lipslide on the rail, followed by a 50 to 180 out on the San Miguel “can”, a Cab 9 Stalefish on the first kicker, an FS 10 on the second and a BS Doble Cork 12 on the last kicker. There was simply no doubt, Nuuti Niemela is 2012’s new king of the Total Fight Masters of Freestyle.

Nuuti Niemela, one of the top 8 world slopestyle riders told us: “I love this event, it’s one of my favourites. I’m so stoked with my round, the Slopestyle was so good and you had to get lots of speed to do good tricks. I’m really happy to be here”.

Ville Paumola came second, followed by Patrick Cinca and Valtteri Paunonen in fourth position.

For this edition of the Total Fight, the riders split 14.000 Euros between them, 7000 for the first, 4000 for the second, 2000 for the third and 1000 for the fourth.

The party, of course, goes on tonight with the Total Fight Night Jibbing and the San Miguel Night Music – Flaix FM party, with the amazing Crappy Tuesdays Dj’s ripping it up.

Big tricks ruled the day, with only 16 riders out of the original 20 qualifying through to the second round. Elvis Eidsvold who came first in Friday’s qualification rounds, ruled the first round with a Switch to BS 2 on the first rail, and a 180 in to 180 out on the San Miguel “can”. He pulled a Right 9 Mute on the first kicker followed by a Switch Left 9 Tail on the second and polishing off his round with a Double Cork Left 12 on the third and final kicker. Sadly the Spanish rider Alex Parera and the Andorran rider Albert Martinez had to pull out at this point due to injuries.

Only 8 out of the original 16 made it through to the next round, in which they would be paired against one another, the pairings were as follows: Austrian rider Tobias Gratz against Norwegian rider Elvis Eidsvold, the Finnish rider Verneri Hannula against his fellow countryman Kalle Leinonen, Austrian rider Lukas Mangold against the Spanish rider Luka Melloni and Andorran rider Noah Albaladejo against fellow Andorran Scotty Jordan.

After an intense session, only 4 riders were left in the finals to fight for the title of Master of Freestyle. Elvis Eidsvold was once again dominating the game, but Kalle Leinonen, winner of last year’s edition, was hot on his feet. Not to be outshone was the Spanish rider Luca Melloni and the Andorran Scotty Jordan. With only three rounds to prove their worth, the finals promised to be intense.

In the last round of the final, when Elvis Eidsvold’s first place seemed to be sealed, the Finnish rider Kalle Leinonen blew everyone away with a 2 In 2 Out on the first rail, a Switch 2 In Switch 2 Out on the San Miguel “can”, a Switch Bio 10 Switch Left on the first kicker followed by a Switch Bio Right Mute on the second kicker and polishing off his stunning round with a Double Cork 12 on the final kicker, scoring him the victory. Elvis Eidsvold came second followed by Luka Melloni.

The prize money for the Total Fight this year was 5.000 € for Leinonen, 2.000 € for Eidsvold, 1.000€ for Melloni and 500 € for each rider classified to number 10.

Remarking on his second victory Kalle Leinonen said: “I am genuinely happy to be here again, this is a very organised competition, I can’t wait to come back next year”

Spaniard Luka Melloni, who came third, said:” I’ve been competing here for many years already and it’s the first time I’ve managed to get such a good position. I landed all my tricks and got the necessary points to be on the podium, so I’m happy!”

The party, continued into the night with the Total Fight Night Jibbing and the San Miguel Night Music – Flaix FM party, with the amazing Crappy Tuesdays Dj’s ripping it up.

1- KALLE LEINONEN (FIN – 4FRONT)
2- ELVIS EIDSVOLD (NOR – ARMADA)
3- LUKA MELLONI (ESP – AMPLID)
4- SCOTTY JORDAN (AND – ATOMIC)
5- VERNERI HANNULA (FIN – ATOMIC)
6- NOAH ALBALADEJO (AND – SALOMON)
7- TOBIAS GRATZ (AUT – ATOMIC)
8- LUCAS MANGOLD (AUT – K2)
9- JULIEN POIROT (FRA – ELAN)
10- JOHANNES DREXL (AUT – ATOMIC)
11- ALEXANDER HEBBE (SWE – NORDICA)
12- ILKKA HANNULA (FIN – ATOMIC)
13- VICENT GRAMOND (FRA – ARMADA)
14- ENRIC FONT (AND)
15- GUILLAUME FERNANDES (AND – KLINT)
16- DOVAL LOÏC (FRA – MAZCOL)

RESULTS OF THE 2012 TOTAL FIGHT /SNOWBOARD