MOHAMMED AL SARRAF WINS RED BULL STREET STYLE IN KUWAIT
Al Sarraf To Represent Kuwait in South Africa
17 years old Mohammed Al Sarraf won the 2009 Red Bull Street Style Final in Kuwait after producing a spectacular show at the final impressing four of the five judges. The final took place at the Marina Crescent and was watched by more than 3,000 spectators who enjoyed every single minute of the three hours event. Al Sarraf will join competitors from 60 other countries around the world in the 2010 Red Bull Street Style World Final that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa.
“I will never forget this day; I am so happy that I won today and that I will represent Kuwait in South Africa. In the first round I managed to win all my games but starting the top 8 round, the competition started to get tougher and tighter therefore I used different styles and tricks. I am glad that all the practice has paid off. Now I will double my training for the final in South Africa. I believe that the World Final is going to be tougher than Brazil as more countries are participating and the level of freestyle has already improved a lot.” said a triumphant Mohammed Al Sarraf.
Second place went to Ali Abudllah who performed a solid style throughout the championship. Third place went to Abdullah Al Sayed nicknamed “Legend” after beating Mohammed Al Hammed, Kuwait’s representative at last year’s World Final in Brazil.
The 16 street-stylers displayed all their skills and pulled some of their best tricks and gave the fans what they have been waiting for. Each brought his unique style and talent to the competition field with creative skills such as flips, stalls, pancakes as well as 360, around the world, around the moon and crossovers.
16 of Kuwait’s best freestylers were divided on four groups.
Group A: Mohammed Al Sarraf, Fahed Trayed, Askar Al Chemari, Mohammed Ashraf.
Group B: Abdullah Al Sayed, Mohammed Al Hammad, Armaan, Ali Al Soqabi
Group C: Hussein Fouad, Ali Abdulla, Mohammed Al Bawardi, Abdulwahab Mohammed
Group D: Obeid Al Chemari, Al Farabi Kamal, Sami Eid, Hamad Al Muhana
The final was judged by 2008 Red Bull Street Style World Champion Sean Garnier who entertained the audience with two spectacular shows. Garnier who presented the winner’s trophy said: “The final in Kuwait was of high standards and the level of freestyle is high. The crowd was amazing and interacted with the shows that I performed.”
Completing the judging panel was famous Kuwaiti players Ahmed Ajab (Al Qadisiya and Kuwait National Team striker), Walid Al Ali (Kuwait Club and Kuwait National Team midfielder) B-boy Hamad and Mike Finn, Director of Football at Everton Football Academy.
Following on from the huge success of last year’s final in Sao Paulo, there will be over 60 countries from around the globe sending Street Stylers to compete in Cape Town, South Africa in April next year. In Kuwait, there were three qualifying rounds in Al Kout Mall, Slayil Al Jahra and Marina (basketball courts) building up to Fridays final.
