Burton New Zealand Open Comes to a Close

6th ANNUAL BURTON NEW ZEALAND OPEN COMES TO A CLOSE
Anderson and Kokubo Win Halfpipe Titles

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (August 4, 2008) New Zealand’s largest snowboarding event, the Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships, came to a close on Saturday after four intense days of competition. Part of the Burton Global Open Series and the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour, the 6th Annual New Zealand Open showcased some of the world’s top snowboarders competing in halfpipe, slopestyle and quarterpipe competitions for over NZ$50,000 in prize money.

Hundreds of competitors from all over the world flocked to Snow Park NZ to compete for their piece of the prize purse. Action got underway on Wednesday with men’s and women’s halfpipe pre-qualifiers and qualifiers taking place. The women’s field was dominated by first place finisher, 16-year-old Jiayu Liu (CHN), whose huge amplitude impressed the judges. Brennen Swanson (USA) took first in men’s qualifiers with a big, clean run that featured a multitude of grabs and rotation variations.

High winds and poor visibility delayed the start of slopestyle qualifiers on Thursday, resulting in a decision to advance all female contestants directly to Friday’s slopestyle semi-finals. The competition finally got underway in the afternoon, where top qualifier, Sam Hulbert (USA) stomped each of his landings, putting down a solid run that included back to back 900’s.

Although the weather continued to be a factor on Friday during slopestyle semi-finals and finals, the riders didn’t allow it to affect their performance. Mikkel Bang (NOR) consistently landed his runs, each scoring higher than the last. His final run that earned him the title spot, Bang had this to say of his win, “I didn’t have any expectations when I set out this morning, the weather wasn’t great but the snow was good and soft and it turned into a really good day!”

It was also Jamie Anderson’s final run that achieved her highest score in women’s slopestyle finals. She continued to raise the bar and push her riding to the next level, resulting in a winning run that scored an impressive 34 points higher then her next closest competitor. The 17-year-old California native had this to say of her day, “The jumps were well built and the rails were fun. If it had been sunny, it would have been perfect!”

Later that night, some of the world’s best riders dropped into a lit 30 foot quarterpipe for the chance to take home up to NZ$4500 in prizes for both men and women. When it was all said and done Kelly Clark (USA) took $1000 for Best Trick after throwing a backside 540 that couldn’t be matched. Kelly also pocketed the prize for Highest Air, adding another $1000. But despite her aerial dominance, Kelly was bested by Kiwi, Juliane Bray who took home $2500 for stomping trick after trick and landing Best Overall. For the men, it was all about the brothers Murakami. Hailing from Japan, younger brother Fumiyuki took the Best Trick with a McTwist while the elder Daisuke won $1000 for Highest Air. Brennan Swanson won Best Overall for landing the most trick variations during the course of the jam.

Saturday saw a field of 40 men and 21 women compete for the halfpipe titles worth NZ$5,000. In the women’s competition Kelly Clark took the lead early in semi-finals, with the highest score of the day – 86.50. Hot on her heels was 16-year-old Jiayu Liu, while slopestyle champion, Jamie Anderson took eighth, just barely making finals. Unexpectedly, Anderson’s first run in finals landed her a score of 84.25 and also earned her best trick with an inverted backside 540. Throughout finals her score held out, and Anderson took home a first place victory for the second time in two days. “I didn’t expect to win at all. My first run was pretty good and I knew I was maybe up there but I didn’t think top three”, said Jamie. “I’m stoked, it was a good day.”

The Japanese contingent was super strong throughout the men’s semi-finals, taking six spots in the finals. Kokubo and Daisuke Murakami rose up in the field with strong runs that took first and third respectively. Daisuke Murakami put together the run of the day but fell on the last hit, allowing Kazuhiro to hold on to first with a score of 92.50. However Murakami got best trick with his frontside 1080 tailgrab. Said Kokubo of his win –“I tried to create my own style of riding; I didn’t just want to win, I wanted to do it in style!”

With the Burton New Zealand Open finished, it’s on to the Australian Open, taking place at Perisher Blue from September 1-5, 2008. The Australian Open is the second stop on the 2008-2009 Burton Global Open Series. James Hamilton and Jamie Anderson are currently in the lead for the $100,000 Burton Global Open Series Championship title. The BGOS boasts the most lucrative cumulative prize purse in snowboarding – over $900,000 – with equal prize money to men and women.

After Saturday’s SIX(6)STAR NZO halfpipe finals, Chas Guldemond took the top spot in the Swatch TTR World Tour rankings followed by Janne Korpi in second and James Hamilton in third. Reining Swatch TTR women’s champion, Jamie Anderson, maintains her first place ranking, with Sina Candrian and Ellery Hollingsworth in second and third place, respectively.

For those who were unable to make it to Snow Park NZ, highlights of the competitions are available for on-demand viewing at www.go211.com.

2008 NZO Halfpipe Final Results

Men
1 Kazuhiro Kokubo JPN $5,000
2 Markus Malin FIN $2,500
3 Daisuke Murakami JPN $1,250
4 Kazuumi Fujita JPN $500
5 Ryo Aono JPN $250
6 Janne Korpi FIN $250

Halfpipe Best Trick
Daisuke Murakami JPN $1,000


Women
1 Jamie Anderson USA $5,000
2 Jiayu Liu CHN $2,500
3 Kelly Clark USA $1,250
4 Shiho Nakashima JPN $500
5 Juliane Bray NZE $250
6 Kendall Brown NZE $250


Halfpipe Best Trick
Jamie Anderson USA $1,000

2008 NZO Slopestyle Final Results

Men
1 Mikkel Bang NOR $5,000
2 Charles Reid CAN $2,500
3 Chas Guldemond USA $1,250
4 Eric Willett USA $500
5 Tim Humphreys USA $250
6 Sam Hulbert USA $250

Women
1 Jamie Anderson USA $5,000
2 Cheryl Maas NED $2,500
3 Spencer O’Brien CAN $1,250
4 Shelly Gotlieb NZE $500
5 Callie Conaghan AUS $250
6 Sina Candrian SUI $250

2008 NZO Quarterpipe Results

Men
Brennen Swanson USA Best Overall $2,500
Fumiyuki Murakami JPN Best Trick $1,000
Daisuke Murakami JPN Highest Air $1,000

Women
Juliane Bray NZE Best Overall $2,500
Kelly Clark USA Best Trick $1,000
Kelly Clark USA Highest Air $1,000

About the Burton Global Open Series
The Burton Global Open Series events are the pinnacle snowboarding events of the season. Founded by Jake Burton, the Opens have grown from grassroots events to global spectacles attracting tens of thousands of spectators and riders from around the world. Since the beginning, the Opens have been driven by riders, for riders evolving with snowboarding and riders’ needs over the years. With events held in Canada, Europe, Japan, the United States, New Zealand and Australia, the Opens set the standard for snowboarding events around the globe. For more information, visit www.opensnowboarding.com

About the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour
Founded by Terje Haakonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the SWATCH Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour is a non-profit, rider-driven organization with the mission to create the highest quality competitive snowboard environment in the world, using authenticity, accessibility and innovation as guiding principles. Since its foundation, the Swatch TTR Tour has been developing into the most exposed snowboard tour worldwide featuring global grass root and key independent freestyle snowboarding events over a ten-month period from Southern to Northern Hemisphere locations. Events are rated via a 1-through-6Star system, with points allocated accordingly, a 6Star event holds the highest. Any rider participating in these events, from up-and-coming to professional talent, earns ranking points and a position on the SWATCH TTR World Ranking List. The top male and female rider based on an average of their best eight results of the season is crowned SWATCH TTR World Snowboard Tour Champion. For more information, visit www.ttrworldtour.com

About Go211.com
Go211.com is the leading community and video site for lifestyle sports created by and for action sports athletes and enthusiasts. It’s the place to hang with the pros and friends to get behind-the-scenes video, blogs, photos, webcasts and podcasts from featured contributors along with other action sports fans. Go211.com offers a broad range of exclusive content submitted directly from the athletes. The current Go211 Pro Team roster includes Keir Dillon, Keegan Valaika, Danny Kass, Hannah Teter, Kevin Pearce, Kelly Clark, Jack Mitrani, Ben Watts, Donny Robinson, CJ Hobgood, Christian Hosoi, Holly Beck, Sarah Burke and Mike Losness, among others.