Insane BMX Flatland semi-finals
Despite the rain on the West Bound, the UCI BMX Flatland World Cup Semi-Finals enjoyed a lull this afternoon, allowing the 16 qualifiers to complete their respective 3-minute runs in the hope of progressing to the Final on Sunday. The Chinese crowd turned out in force to support them despite the wind that had picked up. A look back at the afternoon:
Having initially qualified in 16th place in the semi-final, Canadian Jean William Prevost managed to move up 11 places in the rankings by climbing into the top 8 in 5th place thanks to a technical run, spurred on by the public, whom he didn't hesitate to thank on the microphone with a few words in Chinese. The same goes for Dustyn Alt, who climbed from 14th to 7th place with a solid run and remarkable fluidity despite missing a final combo.
Spain's Varo Hernandez qualified in 8th place, narrowly missing out on a place in the finals, which he knows so well, thanks to a precise and dynamic run, albeit with a few misses that affected his ranking.
The speed and originality of Japanese rider Kio Hayakawa's combos earned him 4th place, with a committed run and a final trick that unfortunately didn't go in after several attempts, but which we hope to see in the final!
The latter was neck and neck with Dutchman Sieste Van Berkel in 3rd place, just 0.17 points behind him. Moto Sasaki unfortunately didn't get the chance to show us any more of his incredible performances, finishing in 14th place due to a number of errors and a heavy crash.
Finally, Yu Katagiri remained at the top of the rankings, well ahead of Thailand's Pakphum with 91 points and a stratospheric run combining fluidity and technique with combos that were very committed but always landed with precision and control and very few mistakes. He will be joined in the final by his brother Ryo Katagiri, who also qualified in 6th place.
See you tomorrow for the UCI BMX Flatland Men finals live from 9.30am
