RED BULL STREET STYLE IN KUWAIT: FIVE FREESTYLERS QUALIFY TO THE FINAL
The first Red Bull Street Style qualifying round was held at Al Kout Mall on Thursday November 5.
Several young talents gathered to show their talents and many football-fans showed up and enjoyed the performance of 26 young Freestylers. There were some old faces that had competed in last years Red Bull Street Style contest as well as some fresh new talents.
The Freestylers were onsite by 4:00pm although the event was scheduled to start at 5:30pm. Each participant was given some time to get accustomed to the specially developed street soccer ball “Monta” (size 4.5). The size of the ball supports the dramatic moves, soccer artistry and ball handling during the game. Three minutes were given to each competitor in order to impress the judges. Only five competitors managed to do so as they showed some high-quality moves and tricks. The competitors who qualified to the final are: Mohammed Al Sarraf, Mohammed Al Hammad, Ali Abdullah, Ali Yousef and Mohammed Ashraf. The rest of the participants can try to qualify in one more time either at Slayil Al Jahra or Marina.
Last year’s Kuwait representative to Sao Paolo Mohammed Al Hammad was among the five winners. He said: “I stopped training for a while after last year’s contest but when I heard that the event will take place this year I started training. The level of competition this year is better than last year and I expect a tough battle in the finals.”
The next stop for the Red Bull Street Style will be on Thursday November 12 at Slayil Al Jahra, where the search for the best freestyle soccer stars in Kuwait continues.
3 minutes, 2 players, 1 ball: In each “battle” two players square off in a one-on-one duel against each other within a 7-metre wide competition area. They take alternating 30-second turns with the ball, using their time to show off the best of their artistic moves to the sounds of music. In the finals, the judges will be evaluating the three minutes flow based on control, creativity and style.
Using the rules of the game, the event will be held with a panel of three judges among them famous Kuwaiti Football Star Bashar Abdullah. The judges will be looking for the following elements: control/technical skills, style and creativity. Besides having a very competitive event, there will be a top DJ playing variety of music to encourage the athletes to perform best football tricks. Music plays a very important role as it reflects the game’s culture.
