By Ski & Snowboard Australia Junior World Championships Team Manager – Jarrod Wouters
Snowboard Cross Individual Event
SBX finals day did not disappoint for the Aussie team. The weather settled down even more from the previous day, and the course was ridden in and fast. The men drew good heats after a solid qualifying day, and all got through their first rounds.
In the first heat of the round of 32, Adam Dickson had to fight back after a tricky start, finishing his heat in third. Adam Lambert and NSWIS athlete Matt Thomas both progressed through finishing second in their heats respectively.
In the quarter finals, Adam took on a pass over ex-pat Karl Van Goor on the final corner, coming close but not quite enough to progress through. Matt won his heat by a few board lengths, dominating from the start.
In the semi's, Matt fought hard for the inside line into the first burm, but in his effort, put himself off slightly into the second corner and could not hold off the other riders out of section one. However he found himself a place in the small final, and managed to take second place.
In the women's event, the four Australian girls were all set for their heats. First up in the final 16 was Annabel Tudhope in heat #2. She locked in nicely behind the heat leader and cruised all the way into the quarters. Heat #7 saw Mollie Fernandez and NSWIS athlete Georgia Baff fight it out for a quarter final birth. After a solid start, Mollie had the edge into the rollers section, however couldn't get back into her race line and slipped back into fourth place for the heat. The opposite happened for Georgia as she came from behind to take second in the heat.
Ellise Turner found herself a bit too high into the first corner after a solid start, and on the fast course, couldn't get herself back into contention for the heat.
As Annabel came unstuck on the fourth corner and was eliminated in the quarters, Georgia continued her attack from behind and found herself in the big final, after a critical pass over the final jump in her semi final. Unfortunately with the calibre of ladies in the final, Georgia couldn't quite find an opportunity to make a move on her rivals and finished the event on fourth place. An amazing effort and a great wrap to a solid day for the Aussies.
Snowboard Cross Team Event
The SBX athletes concluded their Junior Worlds campaign, taking out their second Junior Worlds team title in as many years.
They powered through the earlier heats, with Matt Thomas leading and Adam Lambert taking the tail. The final two heats were the most dramatic, with Adam coming from third position through the final corner, to take the Germans and the Swiss over the last jump and win the heat.
In the final, Adam again led off and held a strong race line though the first corner. All three competitors were neck and neck over the first jump, and the two beside Matt clipped boards on the take off and the whole heat went down, with Matt the only athlete emerging cleanly. He sailed through to give Adam a 15 second advantage. Unfortunately, there was a stop start as a result of the crash, so Adam did not even get to drop, and results were taken from the first leg, with the Australian pair taking the title.
In the women's event, Australia was represented by it's four female athletes, Australia#1 with Annabel and Georgia, and Australia#2 with Mollie and Ellise. Both teams drew each other in the first heat, and after a tight tustle, AUS#1 got through and unfortunately AUS #2 failed to qualify after a fall on the first leg.
In the semi's, Annabel and Georgia pushed hard again, but unfortunately were just shy of a birth in the big finals. Then in the small final, an early fall result in Annabel crash into the netting, finishing their day with an eighth place.
Snowboard Alpine
Christian De Oliveria represented Australia as the sole Alpine competitor. At just 15, Christian came into his first Junior Worlds excited for the experience, and focused on his goal of putting down solid runs he set out to do. Christian's pet event was up first. In the PSL, Christian looked extremely comfortable riding, and put down the runs he wanted, ending the day with times he was happy with.
Again with the PGS, Christian was clean and competitive in both runs, ending his Junior Wolds as the fastest 15-year-old in the world.
Snowboard Slopestyle
After a couple of pretty good days training, it all fell apart for the Aussie slopestyle athletes. Most disappointing for NSWIS athlete Mahalah Mullins, who was looking in great form. Mahalah put down a top three run on her first warm up run of the day, then on the second training run, overshot the first jump on a switch-back-5 and injured her ankle. She was unable to compete, however x-rays came up all clear.
NSWIS athlete Angus Waddington's day was pretty similar, trained well, working on the same run as the top qualifier. Unfortunately, Angus made two small errors on both runs, and has learned a lot this season when it comes to competing, and enjoyed his experience in China.
Snowboard Cross Individual Event
SBX finals day did not disappoint for the Aussie team. The weather settled down even more from the previous day, and the course was ridden in and fast. The men drew good heats after a solid qualifying day, and all got through their first rounds.
In the first heat of the round of 32, Adam Dickson had to fight back after a tricky start, finishing his heat in third. Adam Lambert and NSWIS athlete Matt Thomas both progressed through finishing second in their heats respectively.
In the quarter finals, Adam took on a pass over ex-pat Karl Van Goor on the final corner, coming close but not quite enough to progress through. Matt won his heat by a few board lengths, dominating from the start.
In the semi's, Matt fought hard for the inside line into the first burm, but in his effort, put himself off slightly into the second corner and could not hold off the other riders out of section one. However he found himself a place in the small final, and managed to take second place.
In the women's event, the four Australian girls were all set for their heats. First up in the final 16 was Annabel Tudhope in heat #2. She locked in nicely behind the heat leader and cruised all the way into the quarters. Heat #7 saw Mollie Fernandez and NSWIS athlete Georgia Baff fight it out for a quarter final birth. After a solid start, Mollie had the edge into the rollers section, however couldn't get back into her race line and slipped back into fourth place for the heat. The opposite happened for Georgia as she came from behind to take second in the heat.
Ellise Turner found herself a bit too high into the first corner after a solid start, and on the fast course, couldn't get herself back into contention for the heat.
As Annabel came unstuck on the fourth corner and was eliminated in the quarters, Georgia continued her attack from behind and found herself in the big final, after a critical pass over the final jump in her semi final. Unfortunately with the calibre of ladies in the final, Georgia couldn't quite find an opportunity to make a move on her rivals and finished the event on fourth place. An amazing effort and a great wrap to a solid day for the Aussies.
Snowboard Cross Team Event
The SBX athletes concluded their Junior Worlds campaign, taking out their second Junior Worlds team title in as many years.
They powered through the earlier heats, with Matt Thomas leading and Adam Lambert taking the tail. The final two heats were the most dramatic, with Adam coming from third position through the final corner, to take the Germans and the Swiss over the last jump and win the heat.
In the final, Adam again led off and held a strong race line though the first corner. All three competitors were neck and neck over the first jump, and the two beside Matt clipped boards on the take off and the whole heat went down, with Matt the only athlete emerging cleanly. He sailed through to give Adam a 15 second advantage. Unfortunately, there was a stop start as a result of the crash, so Adam did not even get to drop, and results were taken from the first leg, with the Australian pair taking the title.
In the women's event, Australia was represented by it's four female athletes, Australia#1 with Annabel and Georgia, and Australia#2 with Mollie and Ellise. Both teams drew each other in the first heat, and after a tight tustle, AUS#1 got through and unfortunately AUS #2 failed to qualify after a fall on the first leg.
In the semi's, Annabel and Georgia pushed hard again, but unfortunately were just shy of a birth in the big finals. Then in the small final, an early fall result in Annabel crash into the netting, finishing their day with an eighth place.
Snowboard Alpine
Christian De Oliveria represented Australia as the sole Alpine competitor. At just 15, Christian came into his first Junior Worlds excited for the experience, and focused on his goal of putting down solid runs he set out to do. Christian's pet event was up first. In the PSL, Christian looked extremely comfortable riding, and put down the runs he wanted, ending the day with times he was happy with.
Again with the PGS, Christian was clean and competitive in both runs, ending his Junior Wolds as the fastest 15-year-old in the world.
Snowboard Slopestyle
After a couple of pretty good days training, it all fell apart for the Aussie slopestyle athletes. Most disappointing for NSWIS athlete Mahalah Mullins, who was looking in great form. Mahalah put down a top three run on her first warm up run of the day, then on the second training run, overshot the first jump on a switch-back-5 and injured her ankle. She was unable to compete, however x-rays came up all clear.
NSWIS athlete Angus Waddington's day was pretty similar, trained well, working on the same run as the top qualifier. Unfortunately, Angus made two small errors on both runs, and has learned a lot this season when it comes to competing, and enjoyed his experience in China.
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