Ginwoo Onodera beat out names like Nyjah Huston and Giovanni Vianna to win the trophy
Summary
Ginwoo Onodera, a 15-year-old Japanese skateboarder, won his first title at the SLS Super Crown in São Paulo, beating big names like Nyjah Huston and Giovanni Vianna with spectacular maneuvers and scores above 9.
The men’s SLS Super Crown title has a new owner: the revelation Ginwoo Onodera, a 15-year-old Japanese athlete, beat established names in skateboarding, showed an unprecedented level at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera, in São Paulo, and won his first championship title of the SLS season this Sunday 7.
The São Paulo gymnasium witnessed the world’s highest level of skateboarding during the decision and the title was only decided in the last maneuver. With Giovanni Vianna and Nyjah Huston already ranked, Ginwoo and his compatriots Sora Shirai, Kaiari Netsuke, as well as Peruvian Angelo Caro, faced the final.
As expected, the skaters swapped positions for the lead on every line and every trick, complete with a shower of “9 clubs,” the name given to tricks with a score of 9 or higher.
But Ginwoo showed every sign that he would give his opponents a tough world title fight. The first to begin work as soon as the track opened for training, the Japanese also benefited from the support of Brazilian supporters after showing charisma.
While the fight for the title was valid, the newcomer, who made his debut in the arena events in the final, performed two perfect maneuver lines, scoring 9.3 and 9.4, thus increasing the chances of his opponents.
Yet his rivals were hot on his heels: seven-time champion Nyjah Huston scored 9.2 with his best run, while compatriot Sora Shirai scored 9.1.
In the individual maneuvers, Ginwoo allowed himself to make only one mistake, and his lowest score was 7.8, changing three scores above 9 during the session.
Eventually, as the fight tightened, the Japanese took advantage of his opponents’ mistakes and the argument came down to him and Shirai, who temporarily led the final after his last maneuver.
But as “predestined” to triumph, Ginwoo didn’t feel the pressure, he got a score of 9.4 on his last run and finally celebrated his first victory in the street skate world championship: “I like feijoada”, shouted the Japanese, to the delight of the Brazilians, after the victory.
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