While the master @tonyhawk was getting ready for the press conference, a bunch of enthusiastic journalists and I were watching young masters Andy Macdonald, Kevin Stab, Sam Bosworth and Mitchie Brusco skate out some fine flips. Sam is a 17 year old skater from UK who is the first UK skater to ever win at the X Games and undoubtedly one of the top European Vert Skateboarders. Mitchie Brusco, a 14 year old prodigy – This American Skateboarder is one of the 8 people in the world to have successfully landed a 900. Andy Macdonald is still one of the greatest skateboarders alive and holds the record for the most number of Medals at the X Games. Kevin, an old school skater has been a former member of the very famous Powell Peralta skate team and has been skating for over 30 years!
The press conference started with Tony‘s Tour Manager briefing us on the geniuses that were to perform on the next day. Among them were seated Quicksilver Europe Head and Darshan Mehta, Head of Reliance Brands.
Tony Hawk and friends entertained all sorts of questions ranging from Workout Routines, to practice sessions, tricks, gaining recognition and more skate performances. Tony said that they were here to initiate the Skateboarding culture in India, to plant the seed. Quicksilver as a brand is always way ahead the others in encouraging, funding and taking extreme sports to another level. This press conference announced the opening of 3 new stores in India.
Post the press conference, I headed to the venue to check on the progress and to hang out with Tony Hawk and his friends. Skateboarders will always remain punks. No matter how famous they get, if you’re one of them – You’re their bro. This enthusiastic quintet took a quick glance of the ramp and immediately got on to it, post which they changed to their helmets and pads. A crowd of about 100 people were already present cheering for the ‘Birdman’ as he took on the vert with his sleek Air 540s. Andy, Kevin, Sam and Mitchie immediately took off performing specials from their bag of tricks. A couple of falls were witnessed, but this is common during practice sessions. It was great to see them do Doubles and Triples together. I was able to get a few shots thanks to the ramp access I had. Check them out!
More photos here. All photos courtesy Roycin D’Souza.