Last Sunday, the Tech Deck “Young Guns Series” headed to The XC skatepark in Hemel Hempstead for the grand finale. With many of the qualifiers from the Welsh and Scottish heats making the journey, and a whole new load of hopefuls turning up to try and qualify at the last minute, the days skating was of an incredibly high standard.

With around 30 guys in each age group, making it into the final was no easy task. In the qualifying heats previous entrant Thomas TG astounded everyone by how much he’d improved over a year and became a crowd favourite, though it was Jon Howlett who powered through the qualifiers and earned a clear top qualifying spot. Also impressing everyone was the tech abilities of Paddy Maquire, who hails from Belfast and is a previous winner of “Manny Mania”.

The finals were set to be an exciting affair with previous qualifiers like Charlie Birch, Jordan Sharkey and Lewis Mottishaw skating for the first time. I know I probably say this every time I write up a comp report but the standard of skating and consistency blew me away. Sharkey and Thomas TG basically didn’t seem to fall off at all, and Charlie Birch, Charlie Smee and Lewis Mottishaw had a few more falls but made up for it with powerful tricks defying their years. Sharkey was declared a clear winner but the top four or five were really close. With Sharkey and Charlie already picking up sponsors and coverage as a result of this tour already it seems as though “Young Guns” is really achieving it’s aim to support young talent. Expect to see more from all of these guys in the coming years as they are your future skateboard stars without a doubt.

In the “16 and over” category, Jon Howlett blasted to first place, surprising no one who saw him skate in qualifiers. Tom Hewlett from Devon came in second  with smiler Danny Cartwright coming in 3rd. Once again all the guys in the final were of a really high standard.

Thanks to Tech Deck for truly supported grass roots skateboarding, and to all our co-sponsors: Vans, Skull Candy, World Industries, Rocket, Protec, Spitfire, Sidewalk, Progression Action Sports.

Under 16′s results:
1 – Jordan Sharkey
2 – Charlie Birch
3 – Tom Tg
4 – Lewis Mottishaw
5 – Charlie Smee

Over 16′s results:
1 – Jon Howlett
2 – Tom Hewlett
3 – Danny Cartwright
4 – Mullett Terry
5 – Paddy Maguire
6 – Tom Tanner