Hellene showed why she is the best skater in all of Luna Nova and took a huge leap in views on the stream that was being performed, this left her at the top of the most viewed in the uk on the site at that moment, achieving a bit of international fame, lots of people wanting to see the redhead's skill levels, impressed with her ability. But it wasn't her phase to go yet, as she had left to do her lap, this time it was Diana's turn who also made an impression even more so as she reminded a lot of her mother Bernadette.
Cavendish was waved to everyone along with also the other girls in the group, Aisha, Amelia and Sóla who were also called by the whole crowd, the name was repeated but it was noticeable that most of the crowd was there for the Scottish lass.
" And this is Diana Cavendish, oldest daughter of Bernadette Cavendish, although not as dedicated to skateboarding as Hellene, she is one of the best here in Luna Nova, besides her we also have the other girls here! Sóla Fjord, Aisha Besins and Amelia Johnson, now let's see what group F will be able to do! " said Croix.
They all got kind of lined up, waiting for the shot that was given and that's how the first battery of two minutes of tricks started. Diana was making a point of not taking it easy, already hitting a Hardflip and then getting an overcrooked on the railing, where she was holding, up to a railing up, hitting a flip and then a nosegrind holding until almost stopping and then coming back down as gravity called, which she takes advantage of by hitting switch heelflip and then holding a manual, up to a bowl, where she simply drops from there hitting an invert, which she does more boost by getting blunt supported while holding on from the board edge, surprising everyone watching.
" That's Hellene McLaren Cavendish's older sister, the daughter of Bernadette Cavendish, just as surprisingly, she also knows a lot about skateboarding " Meridies said.
And from there she finishes that line by fitting the combination of tricks, even the judges were getting kind of impressed with the performance she saw Diana doing, she was taking almost all the spotlight from the others who were going in a more down to earth way. The number of views stagnated at 12873, but it was still high, with many people also commenting on how good Diana was.
Inside, even the girls were clapping their hands, including Akko and Hellene.
" I think this time little sis will come with everything if we meet in the quarter-finals," said an impressed McLaren.
" I am sure, your sister is also into it, it will impress enough for you, I am sure this can leverage you more " Kagari said.
" This is going to get more and more interesting " Said the redhead all with a smile on her face.
" If I make it to the finals it could also be very good my love, I am giving it my all too " Marianne said.
Back to the track there was Diana once again transforming her skateboard into an art, doing a nosegrind where she stands on one foot and on top of that did a ballerina pose that was enchanting everyone, even more so as she came out of there with enough strength to go into a 540 flip making the crowd love every second.
The tricks flowed naturally, she then went into a bowl where she tried to do some airs to give a little more shock, and finish that battery, hitting some Indy's and even getting a 720, which earned some beautiful applause.
After all the batteries...
Diana's dominance was clear, she had a greater ability than all the girls in the group, securing her first place, while in second place Sóla led the way, the other two were still in their first year of competing and although they had a good fight for third, it was still not enough to reach Fjord's level.
1st: Diana 95.3/ 94.7/ 95.1 Total: 190.4| 2nd: Sóla 83.9/ 85.3/ 87.1 Total 172.4| 3rd: Aisha 61.3/ 59.0/ 60.9 Total 122.2| 4th: Amelia 60.8/ 60.3/ 60.6 Total 121.4
" And the winner was Diana Cavendish in this group stage, simply showing what she came for too! This is one of our best Luna Nova skaters, already having 3 vice championships, losing to her own sister and another competitor she came up against last year! And Sóla also showed that she is to advance in the finals, unfortunately Aisha and Amelia ended up behind, but they can try next year " Said the Italian.
And with that Cavendish was waving to all the audience that was shouting her name, being only booed by Chloé, who stayed there just to disturb a little bit, then she walked to the waiting lobby and from there she got a hug from her girlfriend that came with a kiss too.
" You did very well love, you blew them away! That's it Diana, show them you're the best! " said Atsuko.
" Ah, that was just the beginning, I still have more to show, let's see if I can still pass this titan that is my sister, when we get to the front," Diana said while Hellene looked at her eating a sandwich.
" Ah if you believe in yourself and do your best I am sure you will succeed " Kagari said.
" You really have quite a faith " Said the Scot until the call came for group G.
It was the Japanese girl's turn to go out, she went along with Michele, Carmen and Daisy, two of whom had already competed the year before, and one of whom was new, they walked down the track and that's where everyone clapped for real, everyone in Luna Nova liked Akko a lot and had more affinity with her, even Chloé was there cheering.
" The penultimate group to come, Atsuko Kagari, better known as Akko, last year's runner up, she was the one who went head to head against Diana Cavendish and beat her in the semi"finals! Competing against Hellene with all she could handle! Besides her we also have Carmen and Daisy who have been competing for this championship since last year and newcomer Michele who is in her first season! " Croix said.
The signal is given and Akko goes to the moment of her concentration, going back to last year when she still competed in skateboard championships, going with everything she could, was already arriving with a 180 heelflip towards a railing where she got lipslide, arriving to a descent where she decided to risk a little more and give a beautiful jump with a triple impossible and in the end hit a darkslide, going all the way down to the end where she was still and a manual, where she started to try a little more balancing herself with only one foot on the manual nose was going like this until she reached a bowl where she started to drop and from there she did an invert, where she supported herself from Blunt, but with her feet on top of the truck, still doing a bird pose with open wings, almost falling, but the Japanese girl managed to come back when she propelled herself out of the bowl and finishing that combination.
" Woahhhhhh! that's skill! And it seems that even with all this time that has passed Akko still comes with everything, having as one of her great inspirations the great Shiny Chariot that despite being a quick shimmer was what caused all over the world! " Meridies said.
From there the Japanese girl continued her line, leaving the Bowl she picked up momentum showing her biggest strength which was the grinds, where she hit a nosebluntslide going up a whole ladder until she reached the top where after she continued her line to near a ramp and saw an opportunity, where she risked a 50"50 on a wire that went down to the bottom of there and the Japanese girl left giving a beautiful 540 flip, showing that she was not kidding. The views until then remained at the same level giving a small increase to 13,000, as some people were commenting how Kagari was also another very good competitor, who could cause a lot in this championship, she was just continuing there doing her tricks quietly.
Already in the waiting lobby, Diana and Hellene were looking more attentively to each step that the Japanese girl was doing, a little strange, but at the same time impressed.
" How can Akko after almost a year of not skateboarding still release that invert? Did she almost fall last time? " Cavendish asks.
" She might be rusty, but she rarely showed up for training, and from what Croix and Chariot told me they still gave some extra training, it's just that Akko is not so used to training directly yet, especially since her plans for the future have changed and you know for which one," Marianne said.
" It's still shocking, so that means it's an extra challenge for us to hit head on which is good, but at the same time I just imagine we're going to have to give it everything in this championship or we're not going to win," McLaren said.
" Sis you dominated from the first, you don't need much to win, you always get scores close to 100, I've never seen you get less than 90 since you started competing," said the older sister while the younger one just shrugged.
And Akko was continuing to finish her heat, showing that she had everything, she was doing it showing a little freestyle, when she did a casper and then hit an impossible near an empty bleachers, where she was fitting tail and nose on each floor, doing a flip on each and having a huge balance, until reaching the last floor, where she was accumulating that whole combination of tricks that everyone was clapping and the Japanese only captivated the crowd waving at the end of the first heat.
Two batteries later...
Atsuko was the main force in group G, coming first even in a one"off fashion and also posting an impressive score, even matching the Cavendish sisters, showing that she came not just for fun but also to compete seriously. Daisy ended up second and battled bravely against Carmen, the two showed that they also came serious despite Kagari's lone victory, with newcomer Michele eventually falling behind, as did Carmen who narrowly missed out.
1st: Akko 95.9/ 93.9/ 93.6 Total 189.8| 2nd: Daisy 88.9/ 87.1/ 85.1 Total 176.0| 3rd: Carmen 87.9/ 87.6/ 87.5 Total 175.5| 4th: Michelle 76.9/ 71.3/ 75.0 Total 151.9
" Atsuko Akko Kagari the first placed and qualified to go through to the finals, simply showed why she almost won last year, it was a very dominant score, worthy of a professional skater! Daisy and Carmen also did not do badly and had great scores, but unfortunately Carmen will have to stay for next year, what Daisy did in the first heat is not written! And as for Michele I'm also sorry, but let this be an experience for future battles, you all did very well! " Said the Italian.
Akko was animatedly waving to everyone, even she was impressed with what the score showed, revealing that she was doing better than expected, returning to the lobby where she was greeted with a kiss and hug from Diana who came all out towards her girlfriend as well.
" Woah Akko, you've milked it now, it's as good as last year... Didn't you say you were rusty? " Hellene said rubbing the back of her head.
" I still am, I was just trying to keep calm and put everything I learned in practice without extrapolating, I was still a little safe, so much so that I barely fell, now I want to see how I'll do against you two in the future, especially since it will be either the oldest or the youngest and I already know that in the semifinals I will be with the rope around my neck " said Kagari.
" Look, all I know is that you did very well my love, but do you swear to us that you weren't using magic? Kind of weird that you have a balance like that," Cavendish said.
" I even cogitated, but I wanted to compete in a clean way, besides you forget that I had physical training with Chariot and Croix all these months, I may not have skated so much, but they pulled me by the limit of balance even too much, stay on top of a skateboard is easy compared to a stick " said the Japanese shrugging.
The girls went from there continuing to talk while from there the last group for the competition left being one that was a little more balanced than the others without huge jumps among the best of the group, among the competitors were Rita, Abigail, Heather and Mary, all of them with the exception of Abigail, had competed in the championship of the previous year, including the Brazilian was the third place even though it was by WO.
" And the last group that will compete in this group stage, with a big name also Rita Campos, third place last year! She just could not get past the monster that was Hellene to face her and now will go against her roommate, Abigail, plus two others who already came last year, Heather and also Mary that this year can come strong to get this spot for the finals " Croix said.
And the dispute was really being more balanced, although Rita showed a slight improvement in relation to the others, which was a fact that she would be the first place in the group dispute, showing that she comes to be a force, which surprised everyone who was loving to see how that year had plenty of talent to admire.
The others also did not make ugly, despite some falls were showing that they were equal to Brazilian.
Three batteries later...
Rita was in the front, with a lead not very expressive, although she went well, she was much more consistent and taking fewer risks, already in the second position was where the dispute tightened a lot, Abigail, Mary and Heather were very close, but these three only one ended up ensuring the finals and was the blonde with very short hair, Heather.
1st: Rita 90.1/ 87.9/ 87.8 Total: 178.0| 2nd: Heather 86.5/ 85.8/ 86.3 Total 172.8| 3rd: Abigail 83.9/ 86.0/ 84.5 Total 170.5| 4th: Mary 82.9/ 84.9/ 85.0 Total 169.9
" And Rita Campos is the winner of group H, the first place showing that is a power to beat with an incredible score of 90.1 points in the first heat she consecrated herself in front, but this was very intense among the others that were getting a score close to her and each other, was by far the group that had more dispute between the competitors, with only 8.1 points separating the first of the fourth place! Unfortunately for the latter two they could not make it to the front, Abigail and Mary you can try again next year... Congratulations Heather you will go through to the finals! Now that the group stage has come to an end we will take a short 30 minute break and move on to the finals, in the meantime stay with a presentation of the best moments that have passed all these years at the championships " said Croix while on a big screen on the track and in the stream only one screen was showing a moment linking the best moments of the championship. The video was playing with a song in the background Everyone is someone in L.A " Felix from Housecat as the edit showed the moves from the back when the contest started, people watching the stream were loving the intermission video.
In the waiting room Rita arrived very exhausted, wiping a cloth on her face and even in shock for the score she had achieved, the other girls were kind of clapping their hands to her, congratulating her for the excellent performance.
" Not bad Rita, last year you ended up beating me to the punch and I've seen potential in you " Hellene said.
" Ah thanks, I'm just trying to do my best to maybe get some sponsorship or something, this could be the only chance to secure a championship " Campos said.
" Now that we are in the next phase, things are going to get even tighter, at least on my end I know Amanda is going to be my biggest risk " Marianne said.
" We got the worst side," Diana said.
" Our key will be the toughest by far, there will only be strong girls for us to face, that is us," Akko said.
" Well then let's give it our all, we have to show the world that we are the best and that we deserve to be considered as such," said a motivated McLaren.
" You already have a guaranteed contract, sis, after what you showed it's already clear that they will hire you one way or another, just look at the chat stream, everyone keeps talking about you and look at the number of views, we're even famous, who would have thought it " said the older Irma.
From there they were kind of looking at the videos, feeling a bit nostalgic also when they saw themselves younger, especially Hellene and Diana, on how they changed a lot as the years went by, how they even improved in the matter of doing skateboard tricks, getting a huge smile on their faces, even Amanda remembers the time when she still had long hair.
The group stage of the skateboard championship has come to an end after the female skaters showed what they can do against themselves it is time for things to heat up to a contest for which will involve the finals and determine the great champion of this whole dispute.
See you, finalist witches...