Shirai Sora showed remarkable composure as he narrowly defeated reigning world champion Sasaki Toa and rising star Onodera Ginwoo to claim victory at the WST Street World Cup in Rome on Sunday, June 15.
The final was a thrilling contest, with only 0.91 points separating the top three competitors. Six trick scores exceeded 90 points, highlighted by a groundbreaking ‘never-been-done’ (NBD) trick performed by Brazil’s Giovianni Vianna.
The competition’s 3-3-2 format placed extra importance on the run portion, creating a clear gap among skaters. Fifteen-year-old Onodera set a high standard early, earning a 90.59 on his opening run. This was soon surpassed by Sasaki and Shirai, who scored 92.86 and 93.41 respectively on their second attempts. These three were the only skaters to break the 90-point mark in the run section, which proved critical heading into the best trick segment.
During the trick phase, many struggled initially. Sasaki changed the momentum with a caballerial fakie nosegrind, scoring 95.07 points to take the lead. Only Shirai answered immediately with a flawless backside 180 fakie frontside 5-0 on the hubba, earning 94.66 points and reclaiming the top spot with a combined total of 188.97.
The other competitors pushed hard to catch Shirai. Onodera thrilled the crowd with a switch heelflip noseslide big spin out, scoring 95.73 points, but this was not enough to move past third place. His final trick, a double backside kickflip down the course’s large section, scored 88.81, falling short of overtaking Shirai.
Vianna electrified the audience on his last attempt with a caballerial switch backsmith down the hubba, scoring an impressive 96.93—the fourth-highest score ever recorded on the World Skateboarding Tour. Despite this, his lower run score of 83.88 prevented him from breaking into the top three.
By Shirai’s final trick attempt, his win was secure, sealing a clean sweep for Japan and reaffirming the nation’s dominance in street skateboarding.
Only two skaters failed to land any tricks: Brazil’s Ivan Monteiro and double Olympic champion Yuto Horigome, who finished eighth and seventh respectively.