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Soul Mavericks qualify for UK B-Boy World Championships

July 12th, O2 Islington Academy

Photos: Daniel Gray, Dead By Sunrise

For Regional Conflict Finals 2010 results, click here

Regional Conflict finals b-boy battle

Above: Trinity Warriors, last year’s defending champions

Soul Mavericks have clinched a double for the UK breaking scene this year. Having won the qualifier at Battle of the Year in April they will also be representing the UK at the UK B-Boy Championships final on October 11th.

What adds to the excitement of last weekend's UK qualifiers isn't just their 'double' (if breaking were a sport, that's what you'd probably call it), but because both finalist crews were one and the same.

Fresh 2 Death aka 'Mavericks X', one half of Soul Mavericks, battled their way through the rounds to find themselves against the other half of their crew in the finals.

Above: Crews listen up: stay behind the lines!

Back at the true home for breaking qualifiers, the Islington Academy, every crew battled with immense spirit. With the crews from the northern and southern heats coming from as far as Newcastle, b-boys were pulling out all the stops to display their best moves to impress the judges, win a place in the world finals, and make their long train journeys worthwhile. For those that came to see battles it was a very impressive night.

The battles opened on a high with Trinity Warriors against New Found Motions, with Trinity using lots of routines to secure a victory despite the incredible efforts of Motions' jackhammers towards the end.

Above: The jackhammering was a crowd pleaser

Heavy Smokers faced Soul Mavericks, although with less toprocking and Mavericks' knotting routines they were defeated.

The most intense battle of the night was between Newcastle's BadTasteCru and London's La Familia. With lots of victories under their belt, as well as representing the UK at last year's Battle of the Year, it was going to be a difficult task for La Familia to win. BadTasteCru commandoed the floor for a while, but La Familia's hunger for victory paid off as the judges voted them through.

Mavericks X defeated Hardknox, leaving four crews for the semi finals.

By this stage it was difficult to tell who was the better crew, which likely came down to the small decisions made by the the judges and who had fewer crashes. Soul Mavericks and Mavericks X were both in the semis and they were facing Trinity Warriors and La Familia respectively. The semis was the round where the latter two crews were knocked out despite their efforts, leaving Soul Mavericks to face their other half in the finals.

Soul Mavericks

Above: Soul Mavericks... Or Mavericks X?

It could be disputed over who was the better crew, but by the judge’s decision, Soul Mavericks had the edge over Mavericks X.

Popping

30 poppers also took to the stage to be whittled down to eight by the judges, with the final two going through to the world championships.

As an act of showmanship, Polskee Hitman and a charged-up Dixon battled each other, even though they had both qualified.

Locking

This year there was no 2-on-2 locking battles due to a “lack of interest.”

Popping knockouts

Chris Stein vs Rico

Uncle A vs Polskee Hitman

Dixon vs WMP

Crazy Popper vs Ssik Tingz

Chris Stein vs Polskee Hitman

Dixon vs Ssik Tingz

Both Polskee Hitman and Dixon qualify for the world champs.

Polskee Hitman

Above: Polskee Hitman. He didn’t change outfit every round...

Crew knockouts

NB: Fresh 2 Death = Mavericks X

Trinity Warriors vs New Found Motion

Heavy Smokers vs Soul Mavericks

BadTasteCru vs La Familia

Hardknox vs Fresh 2 Death

Semi Finals:

Trinity Warriors vs Soul Mavericks

Fresh 2 Death vs La Familia

Finals:

Soul Mavericks vs Fresh 2 Death

Soul Mavericks

Above: Thread-ing a fine line between crew affiliations, both Soul Mavericks and Mavericks X were dressed in yellow gear

Related section:

UK B-Boy Championships