| HOME | ARCHIVE | ABOUT US | EVENTS | ACTIVITIES | CABLESKI | PHOTOS & VIDEOS | PRO SHOP | RATES | CONTACT US |
.

Wed, 5^th Nov 08:

PUTRAJAYA OFFERS WARM WELCOME TO FIRST WATERSKI WORLD CUP STARS ON ARRIVAL AT THE MAGNIFICENT PULLMAN RESORT HOTEL

The very first official guests of the Putrajaya Hotel arrived on site yesterday to a warm welcome and some cold coconut milk – and they were all World Cup Waterskiers !   These included Clementine Lucine FRA, Ageliki Andriopoulou GRE, Jimmy Siemers USA, Ryan Dodd CAN and Kyle Eade NZL. They have just completed a successful World Games test event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Clementine Lucine is the World Overall Champion. She set a pending new World Tricks Record two weeks ago of 8840 points. Ageliki Andriopoulou is the World Jump Champion, currently ranked number one in Jump. Jimmy Siemers, a past World Trick and Overall Champion has taken two major Tricks titles this year – the Masters in the USA and the Pan American title. Ryan Dodd has secured six major Jump titles this season, including a MasterCraft ProTour title, the London and Moomba Masters Night Jump titles plus the Pan American title. Kyle Eade has won no less than 15 National Jump titles in New Zealand and has just set a new Personal Best score of 69.7m. With most of the athletes yet to arrive in Putrajaya in the coming days from 14 countries around the world, the standard at this 25th World Cup Stop could well be the highest ever seen at a major international waterski event.

The big question is, who is most likely take the men and ladies Putrajaya World Cup titles next weekend ? Also, as this will be the last World Cup Jump event on the 2008 calendar, who will take the World Cup season title ? The Slalom and Shortboard World Cup titles will be awarded on Doha, Qatar, the following weekend. The answers are not easy to predict as only the top 20 athletes in the world of 30 million participants qualify for entry and all can win on a given day. 

However ……..

Lets start with Jump. The Mens event will not be for the nervous spectator ! If you enjoy excitement on the other hand, this promises to be one of the truly great battles of the year. These Jumpers will hit the Ramp at over 100kph. Two names dominate even though there are serious young contenders nearby. Freddy Krueger USA and Jaret Llewellyn CAN are the names to highlight. To add to the excitement, Freddy Krueger, currently ranked number one in the world, set a new World Jump Record just one week ago with an extraordinary distance of 75.3m. Can he do it yet again here in Putrajaya ? On the other hand, Jaret Llewellyn is ranked number two in the world right now and has broken no less than eleven world records in his time. This promises to be a spectacular duel at the weekend.  In the womens event, Ageliki Andriopoulou GRE is certainly the hot contender as the reigning world champion but she will have two serious rivals, June Fladborg DEN and Clementine Lucine FRA. We have some drama here as June Fladborg is presently stuck in California with a flight problem and might not make it.  That could give Clementine Lucine a real shot at the title.

In Shortboard, or Tricks as it is sometimes called, again we have a lot of drama ! One man has been almost unbeatable since 2001 and that is Nicolas LeForestier FRA. Not only is he the World Champion but also the world record holder. However, he had a serious arm injury in July and is fighting to be fit enough for Putrajaya. If he makes it, can he still dominate ? Watch out for Oleg Deviatovski and Aliaksei Zharnasek, both from Belarus – and also Jimmy Siemers USA.  Their time may have arrived if LeForestier does not regain his skill in time. In Womens Shortboard, the hot contender has to be the World Champion Clementine Lucine FRA, She set a new world record this month of 8840 points. However, the World Cup Champion 2007, Mandy Nightingale USA, and past World Champion, will want to retain her title and we expect this to be a great battle for the Putrajaya World Cup title.

In Slalom, the line up is littered with achievements, awards and distinctions. We will have the World Record holder, Chris Parrish USA, World Champion Thomas Degasperi ITA and the 2007 World Cup Champion Glen Campbell GBR. We will also have the World Cup 2008 season leader, Jodi Fisher GBR. To select any is almost impossible – and there are other serious contenders. How about Chris Parrish this time around ? In the Ladies event, it may well be a French battle between the World Overall Champion, Clementine Lucine and Anais Amade. Lucine certainly has the confidence and recent performances favor her but as with the men, the entry is littered with great talent and recently qualified Architect Amade may surprise all.

In summary, we are about to experience one of the truly great World Cup stops ever staged. This also promises to be the perfect way to celebrate the 25th World Cup Stop. For those who cannot be with us, there is an alternative way to enjoy the spectacle.  The World Cup team will make all the action available on a free-to-view LIVE Webcast programme throughout next Saturday and Sunday. Access for all is simple. Just log in to the official World Cup Web site Home Page at the weekend for the link at www.waterskiandwakeboardworldcup.com

Warm welcome at Pullman Putrajaya Hotel for World Cup stars and IWSF Officials
Ryan Dodd CAN, Kyle Eade NZL, Olaf Boettcher GER, Vreni and Kuno Ritshard President IWSF, Angeliki Andriopoulou GRE, Clementine Lucine FRA and Jimmy Siemers USA

Join our facebook group here:

Copyright © Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup Sdn Bhd. All Rights Reserved.