Battle Warsaw 2014

The 7th edition of the biggest freestyle slalom competition in Poland, Battle Warsaw 2014, was held on 11-13 July 2014. During these days the best skaters from all around Europe were competing in 5 disciplines: Classic Freestyle, Battle Freestyle, Speed Slalom, Slides and High Jump.

Women's Classic

Daria Kuznetsova (Rus, #2) got the victory, repeating her result from 2013. She made a perfect clean run with very high level tricks and transitions, linked to the music. Klaudia Hartmanis (Pol, #3) was not so far away from the victory. She took the second place with  a very fast and quite technical run.  Zoé Granjon (Fra, #5) finished 3rd with a good performance but a less technical level, comparing with the two first places.

WOMEN'S TOP-5:

1. Kuznetsova Daria (Rus)

2. Hartmanis Klaudia (Pol)

3. Granjon Zoé (Fra)

4. Dubinchik Ksenia (Rus)

5. Bogdanova Sofia (Rus)

Men's Classic

Kicking only one cone, Sergey Timchenko (Rus, #7) performed a very dynamic and technical run linked to the music. He won the competition, leaving behind him the strongest french skaters Romain Lebois (#2) and Alexandre Claris (#5) who took the 2nd and 3rd places respectively. 

MEN'S TOP-5:

1. Timchenko Sergey (Rus)

2. Lebois Romain (Fra)

3. Claris Alexandre (Fra)

4. Sulinowski Michał (Pol)

5. Timchenko Alexandr (Rus)

Women’s Freestyle Battle

Daria Kuznetsova (Rus, #2) got one more victory. She showed a great level with many tricks (christy footgun on the full 120, back seven, back toe foot gun, shifts), hard combo (butterfly, toe day/night on toe, toe shift on the whole 80) and 21 toe seven as last trick. Klaudia Hartmanis (Pol, #3) made a good performance as well, with  high level tricks and combos ( toe shift-toe back-toe shift, cobra-toe chicken leg, back toe footgun, front toe footgun on the whole 80) but she didn't succeed some of her tricks and finished second, quite far behind D. Kuznetsova. Anastasia Zenkova (Rus, #22), who is improving very fast, got the third place. She made a good long sevens on heel and toe, butterfly to toe chicken, foot gun spin and full line of toe foot gun as  last trick. Zoe Granjon (Fra, #5) ended up 4th. She showed a good first and third runs with the whole 120 line of back toe footgun, toe shift to toe chicken leg, heel day/night. Unfortunately she failed almost all the tricks of her second run. The last trick also was not strong enough to fight for a better ranking. 

WOMEN'S TOP-4:

1. Kuznetsova Daria (Rus)

2. Hartmanis Klaudia (Pol)

3. Zenkova Anastasia (Rus)

4. Granjon Zoé (Fra)

Men’s Freestyle Battle

Sergey Timchenko (Rus, #7) got his second victory of the weekend, winning the Battle final. He showed an extra high level and left behind him better ranked skaters like Romain Lebois (Fra, #2), who took the second place and Alexandre Claris (Fra, #5) who finished third. Alexandr Timchenko (Rus, #8) finished 4th.

MEN'S TOP-4:

1. Timchenko Sergey (Rus)

2. Lebois Romain (Fra)

3. Claris Alexandre (Fra)

4. Timchenko Alexandr (Rus)

Speed Slalom Women

Kristina Lysenko (Rus, #10) won the final against Justyna Czapla (Pol, #16). Ewelina Czapla (Pol, #8) took the third place, leaving behind her Klaudia Hartmanis (Pol, #3) who did her personal record in free start with a time under 5 sec during the time trials.

WOMEN'S TOP-4:

1. Lysenko Kristina (Rus)

2. Czapla Justyna (Pol)

3. Czapla Ewelina (Pol)

4. Hartmanis Klaudia (Pol)

Speed Slalom Men

Michał Sulinowski (Pol, #15) won the speed slalom final with one of his best time in free start (4.6 sec in time trials). Alexandre Claris (Fra, #4) finished second. Dawid Jaworski (Pol, #24) took the third place, beating Romain Lebois (Fra, #9) in the small final.

MEN'S TOP-4:

1. Sulinowski Michal (Pol)

2. Claris Alexandre (Fra)

3. Jaworski Dawid (Pol)

4. Lebois Romain (Fra)

Jumps Women

Justyna Czapla (Pol) won the Free Jump contest, jumping over 95 cm. Her sister, Ewelina Czapla (Pol) took the second place with a jump over 90 cm.  Aleksandra Zawiślak (Pol), who jumped over 85 cm, finished third.

WOMEN'S TOP-3:

1. Czapla Justyna (Pol)

2. Czapla Ewelina (Pol)

3. Zawiślak Aleksandra (Pol)

Jumps Men

Alexandre Del Marmol (Bel) got the victory with the best jump over 124 cm. Bombel Ziombel (Pol) took the second place with a 123 cm jump. Patryk Gruszka (Pol), who jumped 115 cm, ended up third.

MEN'S TOP-3:

1. Del Marmol Alexandre (Bel)

2. Bombel Ziombel (Pol)

3. Gruszka Patryk (Pol)

Slides Women

Ewelina Czapla (Pol) got the victory of the slides contest. Angelika Prucnal (Pol, #8) took the second place. Paulina Czapla (Pol, #17) finished 3rd.

WOMEN'S TOP-3:

1. Czapla Ewelina (Pol)

2. Prucnal Angelika (Pol)

3. Czapla Paulina (Pol)

Slides Men

Alexandre Claris (Fra, #99) won the Slide Competition. Dawid Jaworski (Pol, #18) took the second place. Teddy Thierry (Fra) ended up third.

MEN'S TOP-3:

1. Claris Alexandre (Fra)

2. Jaworski Dawid (Pol)

3. Thierry Teddy (Fra)

P.S. You won the Classic and the Battle competitions just like one year ago. Was it more difficult this year? How did you find the competition's level? A few words about the Battle Warsaw 2014?

Daria. I always try to do my best for every competition, no matter the ranking. It's never so easy to win, so it's kind of stress each time for me. This year there were less competitors but almost all the strongest skaters were there. Last year, as it was a European Championships, it was more difficult to compete because of the quantity of  participants and the event's level. This year, because of the weather conditions, the competitions replaced from the outdoor stadium to the indoor place for the battle. The floor condition was not so easy to skate but finally it's better than rain.

P.S. What was harder to win - Battle or Classic?

Daria. It's always easier to participate in the Battle that in the Classic for me. I am too stressed before my Classic usually. If i make a mistake during my Classic run it's always difficult for me not to be nervous because of this and finish my run well. In case of a mistake during the battle you always have a chance to make it better with the next attempt.

P.S. Who was the strongest opponent for you?

Daria. Like at the all events, there were a lot of strong skaters. It's always interesting to see Klaudia's and Zoe's performings. They are my main opponents.

P.S. Is it easier or more difficult to compete after each new victory?

Daria. For me it's always difficult but also interesting to compete. It's harder to keep your title than to win once so of course it's getting more and more difficult to compete for me.

P.S. What is the next event you plan to visit?

Daria. The next event for me will be the RollerClub Cup in Moscow. I would also want to come to Shanghai and Lishui in August. Then after, the European Championship in Busto and the World Championship in Paris.

P.S. What is the main goal for this season for you?

Daria. I would want to repeat my European Champion titile this year. Also, i will do my best to get the good results in the World Championship in Paris in October.

P.S. To compare with last year, you've incredibly improved. Was it difficult to win this time?

Sergey. Yes, it was not so easy. Being in Moscow, we discovered that the competition place has changed, instead of BGZ Arena to the outdoor skating rink. During the three days of competition, the weather was changing all the time, and we had to skate every day on a different surface. All these facts made the competition even harder.

P.S. What was harder to win - Battle or Classic?

Sergey. Both of the disciplines are not easy for me. I made my Classic Run as i wanted for the first time of my competing career. I am very satisfied with my performance. For the Battle i always need a lot of power, and this time because of the hot weather it was even more difficult.

P.S. Who was the strongest opponent for you?

Sergey. Romain Lebois, Alexandr Timchenko, Alexandre Claris and Michal Sulinowski - all of them are very strong opponents for me.

P.S. Is it easier or more difficult to compete after a new victory?

Sergey. Every new successful performance (not necessary win) gives me more self-confidence and even more desire to develop and learn new tricks.

P.S. What is the next event you plan to visit?

Sergey. The next one for me will be the Moscow RollerClub Cup 2014.

P.S. What is your main goal for this season?

Sergey. I would want to get a podium at the European Championships and probably even the World Championships as well. I want to thank a lot the organizers and judges of the 7th Battle Warsaw 2014! Thanks to everyone who supported me there!!!

Check the full results here...