At the end of March 2018, "COW DAY 3" was held at 47 Hakuba, Nagano.The highlight video has been uploaded, so let's report on the tournament with photos here.
Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto

Check out the highlight videos here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=247&v=HbYbB-zjAZ0

Unfortunately, the number of freestyle big contests held in Japan is currently declining.However, the scale and total prize money of this COWDAY has increased with each round, and the number of riders who wish to participate has continued to increase.It is no exaggeration to say that Japan has now established itself as a contest to determine the strongest freestyler in Japan.In this tournament as well, Olympic contestants, veteran riders, and New Age in their early teens fought a fierce battle with jumps and jib with a total prize pool of 10 million yen.

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou

 

1260 is the norm !? A fierce jump battle

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou

First of all, from the jump.Set in a kicker of about 20m, a total of 20 riders who won the previous day's qualifying participated in this race in addition to the invited riders.The interesting thing about this tournament is that for female riders, plus 360 degrees is added to the spin and it is a mixed gender.Let's add that there are stages that require style as well as high difficulty.Therefore, riders are required to have comprehensive gliding ability and abundant self-expression, and for the gallery, it is structured so that you will not get tired of watching the game at any time, such as the main race qualifying, the semi-final, and the final.

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou COWDAY's champion, Yuki Kadono, who has won the jump division for the third time in a row, was also enthusiastic.
Yuki Kadono, the champion who has won the jump division of COWDAY for the third consecutive time, was also enthusiastic.

The rules for the jump tournament are as follows.In the main qualifying, the top 3 players with the total points of the best 2 of 12 runs (same rotation is minus) will win, and in the following semi-final, the style will be the key to the game, not the number of rotations or difficulty. Of the two runs, the top eight players with the best points judged in style can advance to the next stage.And the final tournament is a knockdown format with the best points of 2 out of 8 runs.At this stage, you will need a strategy to win while watching the tricks of your opponent.In the final Super Final, the winner will be decided by the best score of one of the three runs so that he can fully perform the most difficult tricks he can have.Will Yuki Kadono win the championship for the fourth time in a row?

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou Daisho Ogiwara passed the top of the qualifying session the day before, but unfortunately he was disliked by landing in the qualifying session.
Daisho Ogiwara passed the top of the previous day's qualifying, but unfortunately he was disliked by landing in the main qualifying.

In addition to the champion Kakuno, Yuri Okubo and Hiroaki Kunitake of the Pyeongchang Olympics Japan representative, and Yutaro Miyazawa who won the All Japan Championship and is riding the wave, a super girl who has 13 at the age of 1260 Murase Kunitake and others won the championship properly.

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou Yuki Kadono shoots a tweak during the switchback side 180
Yuki Kadono shoots a tweak during the switchback side 180
Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou Yutaro Miyazawa, who had an outstanding sense of stability in both high-speed spin and style.
Yutaro Miyazawa, who had an outstanding sense of stability in both high-speed spin and style

However, in the semi-final, Okubo, who fascinated the gallery with his unique style, and Murase, who was close to winning the championship after leaving this stage, disappeared ...

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou Kokomo Murase's air, where the word "manly" was just right.I was already wearing a dignified aura
Kokomo Murase's air was just right for the word "manly".I was already wearing a dignified aura
Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto The tournament was broadcast live.
The tournament was broadcast live

Furthermore, in the final tournament, a series of big ups and downs awaited.Yuki Kadono, who failed to land and injured his knees, Hiroaki Kunitake, who gained popularity at the Olympics, Minsik Lee, the Korean representative of the Pyeongchang Olympics, and Yutaro Miyazawa disappeared one after another. ..Four teenage riders, Ryo Aizawa, Kaito Hamada, Rikuhi Ohashi, and Kaito Jinguji, who can be said to be emerging powers, won them.It was a stage where I felt the immeasurable power of the next generation.

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou The number of spins also pushed his limits, and the aggressive riding was always impressive.
Kaito Jinguji, who pushed the limits of his spins and was always impressed with his aggressive riding.

When the battle of the Super Final started, 1260 and 1440 spins flew one after another as a matter of course.The 1620, which was thought to be a little strict with the kicker size used at the tournament, also popped out.A really fierce aerial battle was fought.The winner was Ryo Aizawa, who had an outstanding sense of stability in landing and a sharp spin released from his trained body.From the runner-up of the previous year, the result was a splendid victory in the crown.

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto Ryo Aizawa, who flew more than anyone and had a higher make-up rate than anyone else.
Ryo Aizawa, who flew more than anyone and had a higher make-up rate than anyone else

The temperature was high during the time when the jump was taking place, and it was difficult to keep the lip and landing in good condition.However, thanks to the careful maintenance of the digger crew, many of the riders who participated in the race were able to continue to perform their own near-limit tricks until the end.The number of galleries continued to increase to see stylish air and transcendental tricks because of the tournament rules that did not put the same tricks on parade and the efforts of the people involved.In this way, the jump battle that was able to witness the high potential of the next generation riders who defeated Olympians while being surrounded by a large number of galleries ended.

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto Astonishing tricks that pop out one after another naturally gathered many galleries.
Astonishing tricks that pop out one after another naturally gathered many galleries

<Big Air_Result>

1st_Ryo Aizawa

2nd_Jinguji Ama

3rd_ Ohashi Rikuhi

4th_ Kaito Hamada

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto

 

Unpredictable jib battle what will pop out

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto

When the sun was hiding in the mountains and the temperature dropped sharply, a hot session of the jibers was held on the special jib stage set up at the entrance of Hakuba 47. It is the start of the second act of COWDAY.

First of all, the men's qualifying A heat and B heat were held.Here too, many famous riders who are active in the movie, including Atsushi Hasegawa, one of the best jibers in Japan, will disappear.The final was a jam session with 10 riders who won the qualifying heat and 10 women's finalists.

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou Shouma Takao who continued to show off his own slip while interweaving actions that are awesome to experts everywhere.
Shouma Takao who continued to show off his own slip while interweaving the action that makes the expert laugh everywhere

In the final of the jib, the judges are waiting under the course, and coins (200 coins in total) will be given depending on the perfection and style of the trick.After that, the rule was that 100 coins distributed to general audiences would be voted, and the one with the most wins would win.There is no clear point, so you can charm it with style, make the gallery boil with dynamic tricks, compete with a squishy silver expert skill, do one difficult trick, etc., like a rider like a jump. You can freely choose how to show it.In other words, you can see a wide variety of tricks.

Photo: Fuchimoto Kentarou Yuka Fujimori, who put down various items one after another with a solid and stable board slide.
Yuka Fujimori who twisted various items one after another with a solid and stable board slide

For women, it was impressive to see Yuka Fujimori and Kokomo Murase making stable tricks one after another.For men, the BS360 inn with the momentum of Yamamoto Conrad, the 5-O after hitting the board on the inn of the rail of Shouma Takao, the transfer aimed at the flat part of the Kink rail of Yuri Okubo, the BS450 inn of Kaito Hamada, etc. To name a few, tricks popped out, and in a blink of an eye, a heated battle was fought so that 30 minutes had passed.

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto Kaito Hamada has been sticking to BS450 Inn since the middle of the jam session.The venue was excited by the strength of the game to make with the last one
After the middle of the jam session, Kaito Hamada continued to stick to BS450 Inn.The venue was excited by the strength of the game to make with the last one
Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto Yuri Okubo, who captured the hearts of judges and galleries with abundant trick variations, unique styles, and high make-up rates.
Yuri Okubo, who captured the hearts of judges and galleries with abundant trick variations, unique styles, and high make-up rates.

As a result, the abundance of tricks and the high make-up rate were evaluated by the judges and galleries.Two Olympians, Fujimori for women and Okubo for men, won the championship.

<Jib_result (women's)>

1st_Yuka Fujimori

2nd_Kokomo Murase

3rd_ Maiko Matsuda

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto

 

<Jib_Result (Men's)>

1st_Yuri Okubo

2nd_ Kaito Hamada

3rd_ Yamamoto Conrad

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto

In this way, COWDAY, which deserves to be called Japan's strongest freestyler deciding match, ended with a rampage of new young talented riders.

Photo: Kentarou Fuchimoto

 

Finally, we asked Keiji Okamoto, the executive committee chairman of this tournament, to talk about the significance of continuing to hold COWDAY.

Photo: Haru Aki
Photo: Haru Aki

"Riders wouldn't get excited without a big tournament. At my time, I had X-TRAIL JAM and TOYOTA BIG AIR, but now I don't have one. The purpose is to create a chance to appeal. The concept of COWDAY is "RIDER FIRST". We listen to the opinions of riders and do it for riders to enjoy. Of course, not only riders but also world standards I also want to show that there is a crew in Japan who can design a course where tricks pop out. There are park crews in Japan that are not inferior to the world. As for, many riders who mainly focus on video have started to participate. I hope everyone is looking forward to this tournament and raising their voices, and if more fans are looking forward to it. it's the best"

Also, the FREERUN editorial department will cover COWDAY, and interviews with the two notable riders who made the tournament exciting will be posted at a later date, so please look forward to it!