COMPETITION UNDERWAY AT THE 2008 BURTON AUSTRALIAN OPEN
When: September 1-5th 2008
Where: Perisher Blue, Australia
Sage Kotsenburg won the qualification – photo: Chris Boadle
The men were first to drop into the pipe this morning under cloudy skies, where 14 men were boiled down to six. Sage Kotsenburg (USA) took the top spot in men’s halfpipe qualifications by putting down a solid run that started off with a frontside 900 melon into a backside 540 mute, followed by a frontside 720 indy, into a switch frontside 720 mute, finishing with a stylish melon to fakie. Aussies Scotty James, Samuel Murphy and Charlie Steinbacher, in addition to Chris Sörman (SWE) and Marco Grilc (SLO) advance on and will be competing against invited riders Mason Aguirre (USA), Danny Davis (USA) and Kevin Pearce (USA), among others.
1 Sage Kotsenburg USA
2 Chris Sörman SWE
3 Marko Grilc SLO
4 Scott James AUS
5 Samuel Murphy AUS
6 Charlie Steinbacher AUS
Swedish ripper Chris Sörman – photo: Chris Boadle
The women’s field was dominated by Paulina Ligocka (POL) who stuck an extremely strong run, outscoring her nearest competitor by over 20 points. Ligocka, riding in her first competition after an injury set her back last year, proved that she is still a force to be reckoned with. Her second run, which scored her a massive 89.17 points, started off with lofty frontside air, followed by a method air, into a 540 tailgrab, followed by a backside indy, finishing with a 720.
Joining Ligocka will be two Aussies, Erin Tanner and Lauren Staveley who advance on to Thursday’s semis and will take on the likes of NZO halfpipe winner Jamie Anderson (USA) and Olympic gold medalist, Hannah Teter (USA).
“The men and women’s halfpipe qualifiers showed a glimmer of brilliance with the inspired riding of Sage Kotsenburg of the US and young Scott James of Australia leading the way,” said Competition Director, Greg Johnson. “Paulina Ligocka showed that she is back in a big way by locking in the top spot, truly an outstanding effort.”
1 Paulina Ligocka POL
2 Erin Tanner AUS
3 Lauren Staveley AUS
The Burton Australian Open continues tomorrow with the men’s and women’s slopestyle qualifiers. For further information visit on opensnowboarding.com.
If you can’t make it to Australia, watch the semi-finals and finals live on Go211.com, where webcasts and highlights of the competitions will also be available for on-demand viewing once the event is over.
