ENJOY SPECTACULAR WORLD CUP BANQUET

Republic of Indonesia Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs, KRMT Roy Suryo, South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin, IWWF President Kuno Ritschard, Rear Admiral Didit Herdiawan, Chairman of the Indonesian Waterski and Wakeboard Association

COMPETE AT PACKED JAKABARING SPORTS COMPLEX

 ALL RESULTS BELOW

This was the 37^th World Cup Stop in the series of the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF). Hot on the heels of last month’s World Cup Stop in Mandurah, Western Australia, it was another thriller. Young new rising stars and a host of seasoned winners were cheered till sunset at this exotic location situated almost on the Equator. It was certainly a hot one !

The events involved were Wakeboard, Jump and Shortboard.

In Wakeboard, now under consideration for the 2020 Olympic Games, the two biggest international stars wowed the thousands of spectators once again. Eighteen-year-old Harley Clifford AUS has a global fan base. Today he added thousands more here in Indonesia. He has already taken two major titles this year – gold medal at Melbourne’s Moomba Masters and gold medal again at the World Cup Stop in Mandurah Western Australia. While Japan’s Shota Tezuka dominated the field with a score of 81.02, as the last into the arena, Clifford responded with a perfect 93.33. That is domination at it’s best. Andrew Adkison USA took third place.

Secondly, Raimi Merrit USA, was on a mission. As the current Wakeboard World and World Cup Champion, she suffered a recent defeat to Australia’s Bec Gange at the previous World Cup Stop. However, aided by a new training regimen, today she was flawless and her score of 70.24 was enough to beat both Gange and Nicola Butler GBR who also joined her on the Palembang Podium.

In Women’s Shortboard, weather intervened. The otherwise excellent 33C / 96Fh conditions suddenly turned to a brief Tropical storm at a point where World Record Holder Clementine Lucine FRA had the lead with 8840 points. Just as the seventeen-year-old sensation, Erika Lang from Arizona USA, was about to enter the water, we all dived for cover. The storm passed but Lang was certainly knocked off her stride and never really settled when she finally got to compete. Sadly, she missed a Podium place this time but Lucine was thrilled to be back in winning form once again. Iris Cambray FRA and Alex Lauretano USA took second and third places.

Men’s Shortboard managed to miss that weather front. Three athletes scored over the rare 10,000 point mark. Herman Beliakou BLR actually beat the current World Record Holder Aliaksei Zharnasek from the same country at the recent Mandurah World Cup Stop. Zharnasek got his revenge today with one of the best performances we have seen for some time. His score of 11,270 points was one thousand ahead of Beliakou on this occasion. Adam Sedlmajer CZE took third with another superb run of 10,140 points.

Finally, as the spectators packed the entire purpose-built waterski lake in the Jakabaring sports Complex, it was time for the Jump discipline. This extreme sport never fails to capture the imagination of fans around the world. In the Women’s event, a cross wind made it challenging for the less experienced. Finland’s Jutta Lammi landed an impressive 47.0m early on to take the lead. Australia’s super star Jacinta Carroll quickly responded with a distance of 48.9m. This just left Florida based Marion Mathieu FRA, one of the most consistent Jumpers today. Her distance 47.4m however was only enough for second place and gold today went to twenty-year-old Jacinta Carroll.

The Men’s Jump event was the last of the day. Conditions on the water had improved steadily. Britain’s Damien Sharman scored a distance of 60.5m as the first of six Finalists to compete. Only the last two competitors could actually better this. Germany’s Bojan Schipner, in his very first World Cup Final, scored 59.7m to reach second best at that moment. The World Record Holder and World Champion, Freddy Krueger USA, then entered the arena to huge applause. His reputation of being almost unbeatable had already reached Indonesia !  When he landed a winning score of 64.1m and waved to the huge crowd, it was a perfect ending to one of the most enjoyable World Cup Stops to date.

At the formal Closing Ceremony on site, following a spectacular display of traditional dancing and music, as the fireworks show concluded, the Governor of South Sumatra, Alex Noerdin, declared that he would like to see the World Cup series return for many years to come. The athletes from twenty-five countries and World Cup team certainly welcomed this as the site was constructed for the Southeast Asian Games and the facilities are Olympic class. Palembang may now well be viewed as Indonesia’s watersports centre.

RESULTS :

SHORTBOARD & JUMP RESULTS – CLICK HERE

WAKEBOARD RESULTS BELOW :

IN PALEMBANG INDONESIA

SEE ALL SATURDAY RESULTS ATTACHED

Saturday started with 33C / 96Fh, calm water and excellent World Cup conditions. This all changed a few hours later as a freak weather system arrived from nowhere and almost blew us away ! Fortunately, by that stage, we had completed the Shortboard and Jump Preliminaries with Wakeboard left to battle through the gusty and hot showery conditions. At this time of writing, Wakeboard continues but some may be transferred to early Sunday morning.  Here is a summary of events so far ……

Its been a fantastic day competition-wise with some very interesting results. Lets start with the easy stuff. In Jump, the best rose to the top but it was not easy. That early morning flat calm water as we mentioned turned into a sudden wind storm and then disappeared again. In the meantime, Freddy Krueger USA did the business with a distance of 63.9m followed closely by Bojan Schipner GER with 58.8m and Scot Ellis USA 58.6m The other Finalists are Joel Wing AUS, Adam Sedlmajer CZE and Damien Sharman. A special congratulations to Bojan Schipner and all his fans in Germany.

In Women’s Jump, again Marion Mathieu FRA, the defending Palembang World Cup champion, took the top slot with 49.5m. She was followed closely by Australia’s star Jumper Jacinta Carroll 49.1m and Jutta Lammi FIN 48.8m. The other Finalist is Alex Lauretano USA.

In Shortboard, two of the youngest really caught the imagination of all present. First, NINE year old Aaliyah Hanifah Yoong MAL and the youngest ever World Cup competitor, scored 4740 for a Personal Best achievement. Although not enough to qualify, we know we will see a lot more of this young athlete in the years ahead. Erika Lang, 17 years old, outperformed everybody once again with 8510 points. Having already taken the previous World Cup title in Mandurah, Western Australia, she has made an enormous impression for her young years. The others who qualified for the Finals included World Record holder Clementine Lucine who scored 8240, Alex Lauretano 8170 and Iris Cambray 7860.

In Men’s Shortboard, we had a similar situation when World Record Holder Aliaksei Zharnasek BLR with 10,970 was actually outscored by Herman Beliakou BLR 10,990. Twenty-one year-old Adam Pickos USA also impressed greatly with 10,840. The other three to qualify were Adam Sedlmajer CZE, Olivier Fortamps BEL and Joel Wing AUS.

Finally, as our Riders finally got to the water, there were grave doubts about our ability to complete the Womens and Mens Wakeboard event as the sky looked dangerous. Somehow, thanks to the total commitment of the athletes, the last Rider, who just happened to be Harley Clifford, came ashore as darkness fell at 18.00hrs. The Women who made it through were Nicola Butler GBR, Chloe Mills AUS, Raimii Merritt and Giorgia Gregorio ITA. The LCQ will take place on Sunday.

The Mens battles were as tough as we have seen. Massi Piffaretti ITA and Andrew Adkison USA, Sam Carne GBR and Mark Kroon NED, Shota Tezuka JPN and Tony Iacconi AUS, Harley Clifford AUS and Dan Nott GBR, will all rest easy tonight as they also got through. In all cases, they were clearly ahead of the competition. Sunday morning will see the LCQ’s and Semi Finals and we wish the remainder Riders the best of luck.

Don’t miss PALEMBANG WORLD CUP SUNDAY – at www.IWWF.tv

Twitter : @DesBK

 WC Results SaturdayPLM13preli(1)

Palembang SaturdayYOUNGEST STARS CAPTURE WORLD CUP HEADLINES TODAY

WATCH THIS 37TH STOP LIVE AT

WWW.IWWF.TV

START LIST

WC Start list PLM13

Straight off our A380 and stepping out from the Arrivals Terminal at Palembang Airport , we were faced with a set of gigantic WORLD CUP posters – well done Palenmbang Indonesia in setting a perfect tone for this 37th World Cup Stop here in Indonesia. Its a hot 33C tonight and it will get hotter – much hotter !

After the earlier very well attended Press Conference, the Official World Cup Opening Ceremony kicked off with South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin accepting a presentation from IWWF President Kuno Ritschard of a classic World Cup aluminum mounted photo enlargement of Freddy Krueger USA jumping at high altitude last year here in Palembang. The Governor was impressed !

Tomorrow Friday is Practice Day – with the Jumpers on the water at 08.00hrs, followed by the Shortboarders and then an afternoon of Wakeboarding for all the Riders. With 25 Nations represented, this is going to be a great 37th World Stop Stop. Don’t worry if you have not taken the long-haul flight as you can catch all the fun on our FEE Webcast here :

www.IWWF.tv

The Riders and Skiers are now fast asleep in bed catching much needed rest after many 20 hour+ flights. By Saturday morning, all with be ready to battle for those coveted World Cup Podium places.

If you want to get some minute by minute Twitter details, try @DesBK – and join in the fun !

We all know that MOBILE is the place for all the great sports today – and that is why our WEBCAST and WORLD CUP WEBSITE have been optimised for your MOBILE DEVICE. If other words, you can join in the fun on this coming Saturday and Sunday from the beautiful City of Palembang, Indonesia. Hold your iPad or iPhone close and your may even feel the heat as we will be right on the Equator in South Sumatra !

All you need to join is is our WEBCAST URL – and please feel free to Tweet it or paste it on your Facebook page or just e.mail it to your friends. After all, it is TOTALLY FREE !

WORLD CUP WEBCAST FROM PALEMBANG

We will also post reports and photos on our Facebook page and here is that LINK :

IWWF FACE BOOK PAGE

Finally, here is the TIMETABLE for May 4/5 – all LOCAL TIME – so check out your own time difference to make sure you catch all the action. Many thanks from our WORLD CUP TEAM for all your support

SATURDAY

08.00  SHORTBOARD : Women Preliminaries

09.15  SHORTBOARD : Men Preliminaries

11.30  JUMP : Women Preliminaries

12.30  JUMP : Men Preliminaries

14.30  WAKEBOARD : Women Semi-Finals

15.45  WAKEBOARD : Men Quarter-Finals

18.00  END OF DAY :

SUNDAY

08.00  WAKEBOARD :  Men Last Chance Qualifier

09.15  WAKEBOARD :  Women Last Chance Qualifier

10.15  WAKEBOARD : Men Semi-Finals

11.45  SHORTBOARD : Women Finals

12.15  SHORTBOARD : Men Finals

13.00  WAKEBOARD : Women Finals

13.45  WAKEBOARD : Wakeboard Finals

14.45  JUMP : Women Finals

15.30  JUMP : Men Finals

16.00  END

16.30  WORLD CUP MEDAL CEREMONY

19.30  FAREWELL BANQUET

Palembang Indonesia, located just below the Equator in exotic South Sumatra, is well prepared for this 37^th Stop of the Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup Series of the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF). This will take place next weekend on May 3^rd/5^th. Having hosted a highly successful World Cup Stop for the first time at the famous Jakabaring Sports City Complex only last November, this return visit to Palembang promises to attract huge crowds of spectators once again. It will also be Webcast live on www.IWWF.tv

With Wakeboard now on the shortlist for possible addition to the 2020 Olympic Games, interest has never been higher within the large global Boardsports community and their fans. World Cup athletes who have qualified for this Stop will fly the flags of twenty five countries including Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, Thailand, and USA.

The big question this time is, will some of the youngest World Cup qualifiers steal the headlines from the established super-stars this time around? There are several good reasons to ask.

Resulting from many outstanding World Cup performances at Mandurah in Western Australia in March, a few current World Cup leaders have already created real surprises by taking the lead at this stage as they outperformed  some current World Champions and World Record Holders. We are therefore guaranteed a World Cup thriller on May 3^rd/5th.

Lets look at the possibilities. In Women’s Shortboard, the 17 year-old sensation, Erika Lang USA, actually outscored the current World Record Holder, Clementine Lucine FRA, to lead the Series at this stage. If fact, her personal best score is not that far off a World Record. Can the youngster repeat her Mandurah success in Palembang ? Watch out also for Malaysia’s sensation Aaliyah Yoong. At an extraordinary nine years of age, she is by far the youngest ever to have competed at this level in the World Cup Series. Already she is the youngest Gold Medalist of all time in the Southeast Asian Games. Having a brother Alex who competed as a Formula 1 Grand Prix driver some years ago, nobody doubts her drive for success ! Who knows what she may achieve when she takes on the World Cup leaders on this occasion ? The experience will be invaluable for this rising star.

In Jump, at the last World Cup Stop in Mandurah, young newcomer Jacinta Carroll AUS, the U21 World Champion in 2010, although just 20 years of age, took the gold medal to share the spotlight with the Men’s Jump super-star, Freddy Krueger USA who continues his incredible run of success on the Ramp. Both Krueger and Carroll will fight hard to retain their World Cup lead at this stage.

In Men’s Shortboard, the more experienced athletes are expected to reach the Podium. Jimmy Siemers USA, a past World Champion, took all by surprise when he captured the Mandurah World Cup title in style in March to defeat the current World Champion and World Record Holder, Aliaksei Zharnasek BLR.

In Wakeboard, the young talents are also the ones to watch. While the 19 year-old reigning Men’s World Cup Champion and super-star Harley Clifford AUS had a close call in Mandurah with 20 year-old Shota Tezuka JPN snapping at his heels, he remains the favorite on current form. The Women’s event delivered another real surprise at the last Stop. Australia’s Bec Gange stunned all by outperforming the reigning 2012 World Cup Champion Raimi Merritt USA. This will again guarantee a thrilling battle in the Women’s Wakeboard event.

Overall, it looks like this could be the World Cup Stop where experience might just struggle to conquer youth on this occasion. We will know the outcome for certain as the sun sinks over the horizon on the beautiful City of Palembang in South Sumatra, Indonesia, next weekend.

Governor H. Alex Noerdin of South Sumatra and H. Muddai Madang, Chairman KONI Sumsel, can feel justly proud of the excellent facility at the Jakabaring Sports City Complex, constructed especially for the Southeast Asian Games in 2011. Recognised now as a high quality Waterski & Wakeboard World Cup venue, Indonesian athletes will certainly benefit in major competitions in the years ahead from having such a wonderful arena for training and development.

MasterCraft will again provide the competition boats and support services as they have done since the inauguration of the World Cup Series in 2004.

WEBCAST : www.IWWF.tv

WEBSITE : www.WaterskiandWakeboardWorldCup.com

WEBSITE : www.IWWFED.com

TWITTER : @DesBK

TIMETABLE

SATURDAY

08.00  SHORTBOARD : Women Preliminaries

09.15  SHORTBOARD : Men Preliminaries

11.30  JUMP : Women Preliminaries

12.30  JUMP : Men Preliminaries

14.30  WAKEBOARD : Women Semi-Finals

15.45  WAKEBOARD : Men Quarter-Finals

18.00  END OF DAY :

SUNDAY

08.00  WAKEBOARD :  Men Last Chance Qualifier

09.15  WAKEBOARD :  Women Last Chance Qualifier

10.15  WAKEBOARD : Men Semi-Finals

11.45  SHORTBOARD : Women Finals

12.15  SHORTBOARD : Men Finals

13.00  WAKEBOARD : Women Finals

13.45  WAKEBOARD : Wakeboard Finals

14.45  JUMP : Women Finals

15.30  JUMP : Men Finals

16.00  END

16.30  WORLD CUP MEDAL CEREMONY

19.30  FAREWELL BANQUET

END

Located just on the Equator in South Sumatra, the exotic City of Palembang, widely known for its water attractions, will host the 37^th World Cup Stop of the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (IWWF). It will take place on May 4^th and 5^th. Known as the Venice of the East, the City has a centuries-old history as a vital trading post between China and India.

The 2012 World Cup Stop, which was staged at the same Jakabaring Sports City centre, was a resounding success. On that occasion the medals went to athletes from Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Great Britain, Italy and USA.  Athletes from over 20 countries will take part again this year. Already preparations have been completed for this repeat visit to this first class location. Having hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 2011, the facilities available for this 2013 World Cup Stop are ideal. The magnificent scenery, local long-tail Macaque monkeys, temperatures of 30C, plus the many tourist attractions, will combine to make this another thrilling World Cup Stop.

Organised by the Indonesian Waterski & Wakeboard Association, this World Cup Stop will include Waterski Jump and Shortboard, plus Wakeboard for the most successful international male and female athletes of the IWWF. The defending 2012 Palembang World Cup champions will return once again to battle for their podium places. These will include Freddy Krueger USA and Marion Mathieu FRA in Jump, and Harley Clifford AUS and Raimi Merritt USA in Wakeboard. For the Shortboard athletes, this will be their first visit to the Jakabaring Sports City centre. They will include the two current World Record Holders, Aliaksei Zharnasek BLR and Clementine Lucine FRA.

MasterCraft will again provide the World Cup competition boats and support services with the Pro Star 190 and the X2 models.

For those not traveling to Palembang, a free live World Cup Webcast will be available throughout Saturday and Sunday, May 4^th and 5^th at : www.IWWF.tv

The official World Cup timetable (local time) is as follows :

FRIDAY

08.00 – 17.00   Official Practice

SATURDAY

08.00  SHORTBOARD : Women Preliminaries

09.15  SHORTBOARD : Men Preliminaries

11.30  JUMP : Women Preliminaries

12.30  JUMP : Men Preliminaries

14.30  WAKEBOARD : Women Semi-Finals

15.45  WAKEBOARD : Men Quarter-Finals

18.00  END OF DAY :

SUNDAY

08.00  WAKEBOARD :  Men Last Chance Qualifier

09.15  WAKEBOARD :  Women Last Chance Qualifier

10.15  WAKEBOARD : Men Semi-Finals

11.45  SHORTBOARD : Women Finals

12.15  SHORTBOARD : Men Finals

13.00  WAKEBOARD : Women Finals

13.45  WAKEBOARD : Wakeboard Finals

14.45  JUMP : Women Finals

15.30  JUMP : Men Finals

16.00  END

16.30  WORLD CUP MEDAL CEREMONY

19.30  FAREWELL BANQUET

Updates will be posted here on : www.WaterskiandWakeboardWorldCup.com

News will be posted on : www.iwwfed.com

Facebook updates will be available on the IWWF page.

Twitter : @DesBK

Over the past two months, an organisation called iSportConnect has run a survey to try to measure the level of support for the eight sports which are contending for that single place in the 2020 Olympic Games. They also tried to see which possible host city would be most favoured.

The first phase Survey Results have just been released – and the second phase will be reported in September - SO PLEASE KEEP VOTING.

The results are full of surprises !

First of all, WAKEBOARD beat Karate, Baseball, Sport Climbing and Roller Sports. This is quite a surprise. In fact, only Squash, Wrestling and Wushu came out ahead of WAKEBOARD. As the newest of all sports and also really the only youth focussed lifestyle sport, this is quite an achievement. It also reflects to huge support there is out there for Boardsports.

WELL DONE TO WAKEBOARD !

Don’t forget, this is just the half way stage. This survey will keep running till September till just before the final IOC decision on which new sport will be added to the 2020 Olympic Games. SO PLEASE, KEEP VOTING AND KEEP SPREADING THE WORD AS EVERY VOTE COUNTS.

Here is the LINK for your VOTE :

VOTE FOR WAKEBOARD

WORLD CUPS STOPS NUMBER 37 AND 38 CONFIRMED

On May 3/5 we will be back in Palembang Indonesia for the 37th World Cup Stop – WAKEBOARD+JUMP+SHORTBOARD.

We will head for Shunyi near Beijing in China on June 7/9 for our 38th World Cup Stop and this time it will be CABLE WAKEBOARD

Watch out for all the details here shortly !