Malachi Gray and Niko Sugimoto Lead The Charge As Top VQS Qualifiers, Advancing To Skate With The Pros | Rockstar Energy Open 2025
VQS Format: Two heats of five skaters, each skater has two 30-second runs. Best score counts. Top five men advance to Men’s Street Semifinal. Top three women advance to Women’s Street Final.
Malachi Gray. Photo: Andrew Durso
Malachi Gray was the top qualifier in the Men’s VQS On-Site Qualifier round on Saturday, with Kristion Jordan, Wyatt Hammond, Ivan Monteiro, and Nels Rosen also making the top 5 cut to join Saturday’s Semifinal.
Nels "Gnarls" Rosen. Photos: Durso
“I had a good feeling coming into today’s contest, but I’m surprised—stunned, I would say—to be on top today,” Gray said. “I miscalculated my timing for Run 1 and didn’t get to my last trick, which put a lot of pressure on, then everything just came together perfectly.”
Ivan Monteiro. Photo: Durso
His Run 2 pass had fans—including Rockstar skaters Braden Hoban, Chris Joslin, and defending RSEO 2024 champ Lazer Crawford—on their feet: kickflip 50-50 on the bump to box, kickflip backside lipslide up the step-up onto wedge, kickflip frontside bluntslide down big rail (the standout trick of the contest) and a backside noseblunt across the flat bar at the buzzer, precisely timed.
Kristion Jordan. Photo: Durso
Kristion Jordan packed a bunch of amazing tricks into each of his runs, the most tricks of anyone in the field. Ultimately, Kristion finished second, followed by Wyatt Hammond, Ivan Monteiro and Nels Rosen all advancing. Alex Lobasyuk arguably had the best style and some of the most difficult tricks of the contest, but was bumped off the top 5 bubble to advance late in the contest.
Niko Sugimoto. Photo: Taylor Ballard
The Japanese contingent swept the Women’s VQS On-Site Qualifier, led by Niko Sugimoto, with Aoi Fukuda and Yuri Ashizawa also advancing straight to the Rockstar Energy Open 2025 Women’s Street Final on Sunday. American Kylie Frank had one of the standout tricks of the day, with her impossible over the step-up gap, but with bails in both of her runs she missed the cut to advance.
Aoi Fukuda. Photo: Ballard
Sugimoto says her VQS experience has felt like a fairy tale so far: Her video part submission gained her a lot of followers, helping introduce her to skate fans outside of Japan, and she was the Week 5 winner of the video contest. Now she’s headed into the Final as the #1 qualifier.
Yuri Ashizawa. Photo: Ballard
“I felt confident today because the fans were cheering, so I was just mentally telling myself to try to make everything look cool and exciting for them,” Sugimoto said, after the contest. “I have even more confidence going into the Final now.”
Wyatt Hammond. Photo: Durso
Men’s Street VQS Results
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Malachi Gray (USA) 88.93
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Kristion Jordan (USA) 86.33
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Wyatt Hammond (USA) 84.96
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Ivan Monteiro (BRA) 84.06
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Nels Rosen (USA) 83.66
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Alex Lobasyuk (USA) 80.16
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Rion Swenson (USA) 72.83
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Keenan Lewis USA 70.33
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Ryan Carrell (USA) 37.80
Yuri Ashizawa. Photo: Ballard
Women’s Street VQS Results
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Niko Sugimoto (JPN) 85.66
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Aoi Fukuda (JPN) 82.83
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Yuri Ashizawa (JPN) 79.16
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Kylie Frank (USA) 72.33
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Lucie Schoonheere (FRA) 62.00
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Taylor Burnett (USA) 59.00
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Juri Iikura (USA) 58.23
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Jessie Darnall (USA) 52.63
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Asia Lanzi (ITA) 50.30