Waterski and Wakeboard World Cup » WORLD CUP STOP Dubna Russia 2008

WORLD CUP SALUTES MAYOR PROKH

des — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:30:46 +0000

ELECTORATE RETURNS DUBNA’S WORLD CUP MAYOR FOR ANOTHER FULL TERM

Ever since our first World Cup Stop in 2004 in Dubna in Russia, Mayor Valery Prokh has made a major impact on all concerned. His initial courageous decision to be amongst the very first to host a World Cup Stop showed the way for many others to follow. Most of all, his level of commitment to ensure that each year the Dubna Stop attracted large numbers of spectators and enthralled all with the attention to detail in the presentation itself, left a lasting and positive impression with all those involved in the World Cup programme. Dubna is now a very familiar name to both Skiers and Waterski fans around the world as a result.

Mayor Prokh makes special presentation to World Cup Star Clementine Lucine FRA

It looks like the citizens of Dubna agree with our assessment of this very popular Mayor. He has just been re-elected as Mayor of Dubna for another full term and we all greatly look forward to our return on July 10/12 for SIXTH World Cup Stop once again in his City. Congratulations Mr Mayor.

DUBNA RUSSIA WORLD CUP TV

des — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:50:32 +0000

Immediately after the Waterski World Cup Russia Stop, our short TV News edit was distributed by Satellite with the help of EBU to 300 million viewers around the World. Then, our 26 minute edited WORLD CUP TV show was completed in the ProActive Studios in Bristol, England, within four days of that champagne soaked Prize Giving Ceremony in Dubna. This was distributed to an additional 200 million viewers. That is a tight schedule ! Here you can see Des Burke-Kennedy (IWSF) and Andy Grierson (ProActive) completing the voice-over and final edit selection.

With such a large global distribution programme, verifying the exact TV broadcast times is not an easy task. At this stage, we can confirm the SKYSPORTS Satellite TV World Cup schedule times for Western Europe and they are as follows. Don’t forget to mark your diary. DVD copies are also available and we will have details here shortly on how to place your order.

Date Time   Channel
20/08 23:00   Sky Sports Xtra
21/08 03:00   Sky Sports 3
21/08 08:00   Sky Sports 2
21/08 15:00   Sky Sports 3
21/08 17:00   Sky Sports Xtra
24/08 06:00   Sky Sports Xtra
25/08 02:00   Sky Sports 2
25/08 13:00   Sky Sports Xtra

WORLD CUP SHORTBOARD CHAMP DOES IT WITH ONE ARM

des — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:45:03 +0000

If you were lucky enough to be at the Dubna World Cup Stop in Russia, you would have seen it for yourself ! World Cup Champion Nicolas LeForestier is tough. Within 10 days of major surgery – biceps ligaments demolished – he arrived at Dubna with his Shortboard. As this discipline is one of the most popular in Russia, the 30,000 spectators expected action. That is almost unfair pressure. Can you believe it – with his raw stitches strapped to his body with two Jump Slings, he almost managed to land a Flip in front of the cheering spectators ! Well done Nic for trying. Right now our World Cup Shortboard star is coaching in Ireland and we hope he is back in our World Cup series very soon.

WORLD CUP AGAIN ATTRACTS THOUSANDS TO DUBNA, RUSSIA

des — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:21:14 +0000

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)

CITY OF DUBNA, RUSSIA, TO MAKE HISTORY

des — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:47:07 +0000

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

RUSSIA – COUNTDOWN REALLY HOTS UP FOR DUBNA

des — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:43:50 +0000

Any Waterski World Cup competitor who has ever performed at the Dubna, Russia Stop, has returned with one dominating memory – and that is the huge number of enthusiastic spectators in the purpose built Volga River arena. To experience 30,000 cheering Russian fans is something very, very special indeed.

Actually qualifying for the World Cup in either Waterski or Wakeboard is the hardest part. Unless the Skiers or Riders are close to the top of their game, entry is just not possible. The result is that there is always a very large waiting list. This is managed on an hour-to-hour basis by Bob Corson, IWSF TC Chairman, based in New Jersey, USA. The reason for this is that injuries and travel problems can occur at any time. One drops out – and another then gets a chance if they can secure a Visa or Flight in time and follow the application deadlines. It’s a jungle out there and that just adds to the fun !

Right now, changes are happening and new opportunities arising on a day to day basis. Today, Chris Parrish (USA) was forced to pull out of Slalom – and this opened the door for young Jonathan Travers (USA). This will be a first for Jonathan. He just happens to be one of the most exciting new Slalom talents on the scene today. Californian Jason Paredes (USA) will also miss out and that will allow Aaron Larkin (NZL) to enter. Aaron had a fantastic Moomba Masters in Melbourne this year and will now shoot for World Cup gold. Top ranked April Coble Eller (USA) was also forced to cancel and that was great news for young Whitney McClintock of Canada. As with Jonathan Travers, Whitney is also one of the great new talents on the international circuit. Russell Gay (USA) reluctantly had to cancel in Shortboard and this allowed Canada’s Ryan Dodd in. All of this adds to the anticipation and we will announce full details of the final list shortly before the 30,000 Russian spectators take up their seats on July 24/26 and prepare to enjoy every moment of the first 2008 World Cup Stop.