Wakeboard World Cup Stop Next Week To Be Hosted By Palm Hills Developments In The Shadow Of Egypt’s Pyramids

Thursday, August 7, 2008
Posted by Bob Corson

 

Having successfully completed the first Waterski Stop of the 2008 Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup series in Dubna, Russia last week, the event now moves on to the first 2008 Wakeboard Stop ever staged in Egypt. Sponsored by Palm Hills Developments (PHD) on the sun drenched beaches of Hacienda Bay near Alexandria in the north coast area, this Stop will have a cash prize purse of US$80,000.

To add to the atmosphere of the event, all 18 male Riders and 8 female Riders will be escorted on a private visit to the Pyramids on the way to the competition site itself. This will present a first class photo opportunity. The Wakeboard Council of the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF) has confirmed  that the top ranked Riders from the following countries will participate : New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Korea, Belgium, USA, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Great Britain and China.

The outline World Cup programme at The Palm Hills Development in Hacienda Bay is as follows :

Arrival of Athletes - August 12/13th
Semi Finals - Thursday August 14th
Finals - Friday August 15th

Palm Hills Developments (PHD) is one of Egypt’s premier real estate development companies. With a pipe-line of 14 major projects and a land bank of over 33 million sq.m., the business is rapidly expanding from residential housing to retail, office and tourism projects. Its properties are in East and West Cairo, the North Coast, Ain Sokhna and the Red Sea area. MasterCraft will again provide all the World Cup competition boats and technical support.

The 2007 World Cup season finished in Doha, Qatar, in the Arabian Gulf, with the very best Riders taking home the coveted World Cup titles. Top of the podium then were Philip Soven (USA), Andrew Adkison (USA) and Chad Sharpe (CAN). In the women’s event it was Dallas Friday (USA), Raimi Merritt (USA) and Shelby Kantar (USA). All six top 2007 performers are included in the line-up for this opening event in Egypt to begin the World Cup battle all over again. Unless injuries interfere, it looks like this World Cup Stop in Hacienda Bay, sponsored by Palm Hills Developments, will ensure that the very best Riders in the World today will make their first visit to Egypt a spectacular inaugural experience.

Following Dubna in Russia, and this Palm Hills Developments World Cup Stop in Egypt, the Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup series will then move on to Singapore, India, Malaysia and Qatar. Stops are currently under discussion for as far ahead as 2012.

 

CONTACT :

Des Burke-Kennedy, Media Chairman, International Waterski Federation

For Sponsorship opportunities, contact marketing@iwsf.com

Web Site : www.iwsfworldcup.com

 

International Waterski Federation

  

Waterski & Wakeboard World


Official Towboat Sponsor
for 2008 World Cup

  
Universal Sports


Palm Hills Developments

  


Hacienda Bay Palm Hills
Filed under: Press Releases
WATERSKI & WAKEBOARD WORLD CUP SERIES ONCE AGAIN ATTRACTS THOUSANDS TO DUBNA IN RUSSIA

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Posted by Bob Corson

This was the fifth consecutive World Cup Stop in Dubna in Russia and the 22nd in the series launched by the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF) in 2004. The next Stops this season will be in Egypt, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Qatar. MasterCraft will again supply all the competition boats and technical support.

The World’s highest ranked athletes in Slalom, Shortboard and Jump were hosted by the rapidly expanding City of Dubna. Over 30,000 spectators packed the river-side stadium for the thrilling Finals in warm, breezy and sunny conditions. They were welcomed by Mayor Valeri Prokh of Dubna, IWSF President Kuno Ritschard and Alexandre Gornostaev, President of the Russian Waterski Federation.

In the Ladies Slalom event, catching many by surprise, it was the youngest of all on her first visit to Russia who dominated in what was also her very first World Cup Final.  Canada’s talented Whitney McClintock scored 4 Buoys on the short 12m Slalom line to beat the highest ranked skiers in the World today. To do this she had to outperform the World Champion Nicole Arthur (GBR), the European Champion Anais Amade (FRA) and the Moomba Masters Champion Emma Sheers (AUS). A new World Cup star was born !

In the Men’s Slalom Final, it was a battle of the best athletes who made it through the Preliminaries from New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, France and Italy.  The hot favorites were the World Champion Thomas Degasperi (ITA), and past World Champion William Asher (GBR). However, it was experience which took the Dubna Stop title this year. The 37 year old past European Slalom Champion, Jodie Fisher (GBR), coped best with the challenging warm gusty wind and celebrated his outstanding victory  with champagne on the World Cup Podium.

Shortboard is one of the most popular events in Russia and the packed stadium roared their appreciation for the the winner’s performance.
In the Ladies Finals, experience paid off yet again and the French World and European Shortboard Champion, Clementine Lucine, was in a league of her own with a score of 8360 points. Her quick recovery from shoulder surgery has given her a head start in this 2008 World Cup series. Her closest rival, Natalia Berdnikova  (BLR), was 500 points behind.

It was the legendary Canadian, Jaret Llewellyn, with 11 World Records already to his credit, who rose best to the challenge in the Men’s Finals with a very impressive score of 10,940 points. At  38 years of age, few athletes in such a demanding sport have survived at the top for so long. With second and third places taken by Belarus athletes, Oleg Deviatovski and Herman Beliakou, that country looks set for major success in future World Cup Stops.

The Jump Finals kicked off in front of a standing-room-only packed stadium. With four Ladies Finalists, any one could have won on the day. Hot favorite June Fladborg (DEN) has had an outstanding run of success this year having already taken both the US Masters and Moomba Masters titles.  She was also up against the current World Jump Champion Ageliki Andriopoulou in this Final. However, today Belarus greatly impressed once again. The 24 year old Natalia Berdnikova was unbeatable with a distance of 49.2m - just 1m ahead of Andriopoulou.

As this is the fifth consecutive World Cup Stop in Dubna, the audience is now very familiar with the names of the top Men Jumpers who have taken part every year. Although the Finals contained the very best athletes from the USA, France, Canada and Great Britain, once the names Freddy Krueger (USA) and Jaret Llewellyn (CAN) were announced, all 30,000 spectators roared their approval.  They were correct. The expected duel was even better than anticipated. With gusty winds and bright sunshine, both Krueger and Llewellyn were forced to call on all their past experience. Llewellyn set a high standard with a soaring distance of 66.5m. The huge crowd roared their approval. Krueger responded with 66.0m and 61.1m. With only one jump remaining, it was all or nothing on the last effort in the closing moments of this outstanding Dubna event.  When the last distance of 66.6m was called, every man, woman and child in the stadium responded ! With a winning margin of just 0.1m, this was one of the closest victories in the entire career of World Champion Freddy Krueger.

As the Closing Ceremony came to an end and the dancers and flag bearers cleared the large colorful floating stage on the Volga River, Mayor Valeri Prokh announced that Dubna City would again welcome back the World Cup athletes for the sixth time in 2009. The enthusiastic audience response was no surprise.
LADIES SLALOM
1. Whitney McClintock (CAN)
2. Clementine Lucine (FRA)
3. Karina Nowlan (AUS)

MENS SLALOM
1. Jodi Fisher (GBR)
2. Drew Ross (CAN)
3. Jean Baptiste Faisy (FRA)

LADIES SHORTBOARD
1. Clementine Lucine (FRA)
2. Natalia Berdnikova (BLR)
3. Whitney McClintock (CAN)

MENS SHORTBOARD
1. Jaret Llewellyn (CAN
2. Oleg Deviatovski (BLR)
3. Herman Beliakou (BLR)

LADIES JUMP
1. Natalia Berdnikova (BLR)
2. Ageliki Andriopouloa (GRE)
3. Marie Vympranietsova (GRE)

MENS JUMP
1. Freddy Krueger (USA)
2. Jaret Llewellyn (CAN)
3. Ryan Fitts (USA)

CONTACT :

Des Burke-Kennedy, Media Chairman, International Waterski Federation

For Sponsorship opportunities, contact marketing@iwsf.com

Web Site : www.iwsfworldcup.com


International Waterski Federation

 Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup




Official Towboat Sponsor
for 2008 World Cup

World Championship
Sports Network
Filed under: Press Releases
City Of Dubna ready for Waterski And Wakeboard World Cup

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Posted by Bob Corson

The first Stop of the 2008 Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup series kicks off at Noon on this coming Friday, July 25th. The Finals will start at Noon on Saturday, July 26th with the Official Closing Ceremony scheduled for 16.30hrs that day.

Having successfully completed 21 World Cup Stops to date, the 2008 season contains the most exotic line-up of venues to date. These will include Dubna in Russia this weekend, followed by Egypt, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Qatar. The Dubna Stop is strictly for the highest ranked Waterski athletes on the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF) charts. The defending Dubna Champions in both Jump and Shortboard are all now confirmed for entry and are in transit at this time. This year will also see the very welcome return of Slalom once again to this quality Volga River site.

The defending Dubna World Cup Stop Jump champions are Ageliki Andriopoulou (GRE) and Jaret Llewellyn (CAN). Both are expected to push to the extreme to retain these coveted World Cup titles. Andriopoulou is the reigning World Jump Champion and she also took the 2007 season World Cup Jump title to finish on a high note. However, June Fladborg (DEN), has dominated since the final World Cup Stop in 2007 in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. Fladborg has come out on top at Australia’s Moomba Masters last March and also at the US Masters in May. This will make the Dubna Stop a thriller. The Mens Jump event is also guaranteed to be a stunning duel. Jaret Llewellyn is the reigning Dubna Stop Jump champion. He also took Australia’s Moomba Masters Jump title four months ago. Freddy Krueger (USA) is the reigning World Jump Champion and he took the US Masters title two months ago. Dubna will offer these two extreme athletes yet another opportunity to prove a point. For our 30,000 Dubna spectators, this will really be one to remember.

In Shortboard, we will also have some guaranteed drama ! Mandy Nightingale (USA) looks almost unbeatable. She is the reigning Dubna champion and the 2007 World Cup season champion. However, Clementine Lucine (FRA) is the World Champion and the European Champion and will be a very serious challenger this coming weekend. In addition to this, the young Belarus athlete, Natalia Berdnikova is certainly on a rising curve with a Silver Medal in both the World Championships and the recent Moomba Masters. In May she took the Gold medal at the US Masters. Dubna is certainly going to see a great talent display here. Moving to the Men, within the past 48 hours is was reported that Nicolas LeForestier (FRA), World Record Holder, World Champion, World Cup Champion and Dubna Champion, caught his arm in the ski rope and picked up an injury. Will this open the door for the two other great Belarus talents, Aliaksei Zharnasek and Oleg Deviatovski ?   Who knows, we may see LeForestier make a miraculous recovery by Friday.  Either way, this scenario will certainly bring an electric atmosphere to the Dubna arena one again.

Finally, the very welcome return of the Slalom event to Dubna will add a whole new dimension to the guessing game !  The Womens World Champion, Nicole Arthur (GBR) will make her first appearance in the World Cup series, as will Australia’s Karina Nowlan. Both are very much the rising stars for the future and Arthur already has four World titles to her credit. Against them will be that past Dubna star and past World Slalom Champion, Emma Sheers (AUS), and Karen Truelove (USA) who is rarely outside the top three IWSF Rankings. What a battle that will be !  In Mens Slalom, it is wide open. The new World Slalom Champion Thomas Degasperi (ITA), like Arthur and Nowlan, will be on his first Dubna visit. US Masters Champion, Will Asher (GBR) and the French star, Jean Baptiste Faisy, will also take on the challenge but the new young sensation Jonathan Travers (USA) could well surprise all on his World Cup debut.

This has all the appearances of being a real classic World Cup Stop. Dubna always has a unique atmosphere of its own with the packed grandstand and long Waterski history. Again, the sponsors response has been exceptional. Joining MasterCraft, the official boat suppliers for all World Cup Stops around the world once again this year, will be Moscow Regional Government, Akrilan, Sberbank, Tenzor, Murexin, Nuclear Research Institute, Atoll and Vozrozhdenije Bank.

WORLD CUP PROGRAMME - DUBNA STOP

Thursday July 24

Training 9.00 - 19.00

Friday July 25

Preliminary Rounds

12.00 Slalom*

14.00 Shortboard

15.30 Opening Ceremony

16.00 Jump

Saturday July 26

World Cup Finals

12.00 Slalom, Shortboard and Jump

16.30 Official Closing Ceremony and Athletes Awards on site
CONTACT :

Des Burke-Kennedy, Media Chairman, International Waterski Federation

For Sponsorship opportunities, contact marketing@iwsf.com

Web Site : www.iwsfworldcup.com


International Waterski Federation

 Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup




Official Towboat Sponsor
for 2008 World Cup

World Championship
Sports Network
Filed under: Press Releases
City Of Dubna, Russia, To Make History In Kicking Off 2008 Waterski And Wakeboard World Cup Series

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Posted by Bob Corson

Next week, on July 24/26, the City of Dubna in Russia will have the distinction of hosting more World Cup Stops than any other on the international circuit today. This 5th year will highlight the significant impact the event has had on the City itself and also attract a host of new talent to this exclusive Waterski event.

Dubna is renowned as one of Russia’s leading Science cities and is currently constructing a major IT Technopark. Up to five years ago, Dubna also had a strong and distinguished domestic Waterski history as the first Waterski World Cup arrived on site. Today, it is seen around the world not just as a very competent host of the World Cup series but also as a major location for future international water sports events. It has already been declared as Russia’s Watersports capital and is preparing ambitious plans for the further expansion of its water-based facilities. In the pipeline is a new downtown man-made lake facility with state-of-the-art technology and high quality spectator facilities. City Mayor, Valery Prokh, has spearheaded this programme with the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF) on the back of the World Cup success. This is one to watch very closely in the coming years.

Preparing for the first 2008 Waterski Stop of the World Cup series this year are athletes from fifteen nations. To qualify, they must earn success points on the Elite Ranking Table of the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF). Given that there are an estimated 30,000,000 active participants in the sport globally, getting in to these top rankings is strictly for extreme athletes. The countries represented will include Australia, Great Britain, USA, France, Belgium, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Argentina, Greece, Belarus, Mexico, Denmark and Switzerland. Included are an impressive nine athletes from both the USA and Great Britain. However, watch out for the exciting young rising stars from France, Belarus and Australia this year. Anais Amade, Marion Mathieu and Nancy Chardin of France have enormous talent for such young athletes. Natalia Berdnikova and Herman Beliakou of Belarus have burst on to the international stage with major promise. Australia’s young Michale Briant has already taken the Moomba Masters Shortboard Title in Melbourne and Dubna will offer her another great challenge. This could well be a season for new faces on the IWSF World Cup podium. As usual, some injuries and cancellations have arisen and the final World Cup entrants list for Dubna will be confirmed in the coming days by the IWSF.

As always, the sponsors response to the World Cup in Dubna has been outstanding. Joining MasterCraft, the official boat suppliers for all World Cup Stops around the world once again this year, will be Moscow Regional Government, Akrilan, Sberbank, Tenzor, Murexin, Nuclear Research Institute, Atoll and Vozrozhdenije Bank.

Dubna has built an enormous international reputation for spectator loyalty and involvement. The special atmosphere created by an estimated 30,000 spectators anticipated for July 24/26 is the result of careful planning. Purpose built permanent seating at the Volga River’s edge, creates a wall of enthusiasm which few athletes ever experience. This has all the ambience of an Olympic Final ! The IWSF will make available a DVD of the Dubna Stop shortly after the Closing Ceremony in Russia on Sunday week. The stage is set for a high quality Wwaterski World Cup Stop next week.
CONTACT :

Des Burke-Kennedy, Media Chairman, International Waterski Federation

For Sponsorship opportunities, contact marketing@iwsf.com

Web Site : www.iwsfworldcup.com


International Waterski Federation

 Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup




Official Towboat Sponsor
for 2008 World Cup

World Championship
Sports Network
Filed under: Press Releases
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