NZsnowboard.com

7th September 2008

 LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand The final day for the LG FIS World Cup started with a closely fought semi finals followed by a spectacular final which saw an all Japanese victory with Kohhei Kudoh and Shiho Nakashima taking out the mens and womens titles respectively.

All Photos: Alpine Image Company

The standard of riding in the mens finals was supreme with 18-year-old Kudohs final run drawing gasps of amazement from the crowd. His resulting score was one of highest ever given out in the FIS World Cup Halfpipes history. The score of 48.9 literally catapulted him into first place along with his massive amplitude, at times four metres above the lip of the pipe. This was Kudohs first World Cup victory, twice having finished second behind team mate Ryoh Aono. However, his winning run of a method air, backside 10, Haakon 7, frontside 9 finishing with backside 5 mute, saw him finally beat his closest rival for first place.

Head judge, Steen Webster, said Kudohs run was one of the best he had ever seen in his judging career. Every hit in his winning run was sky high. As judges we hang out for years to see a run like that, he said. His first hit was four metres above the lip of the pipe and he maintained amplitude for the rest of his run, grabbing everything solidly and landing everything perfectly. This was probably one of the best events weve seen in New Zealand to date and the work that Cardrona has put into the halfpipe has paid off as it allowed the riders to achieve this level of competition.

Ryoh Aono with a huge backside air at Cardrona

In second place, Ryoh Aono (JPN) had been the clear leader with his super high and technical first run that included 9s and 10s but Kudoh soon put paid to that. Highest scoring semi finals qualifier of the day, Crispin Lipscomb (CAN) took the final mens podium spot in third place with two consistent runs that firmly announced the start of his campaign for 2010. Its so good to be back in New Zealand, its like coming home and the level of support I get here is amazing, he said. The riding today was top end, it was no easy field - I just went big and clean and thats how you get to the podium. Now Im just looking to continue riding well and build confidence towards winning an Olympic medal.

In the womens competition, Shiho Nakashima took out her second ever World Cup victory with a technical and well executed first run that put her clearly in the lead with no-one else managing to close the gap with their second runs. Three points behind her, Sina Candrian (SUI) took second place while Linn Haug (NOR) came in third.

Juliane Bray representing for New Zealand

Highest placed New Zealander was James Hamilton of Auckland, finishing a respectable sixth in one of the strongest World Cup mens finals on record. Other New Zealand results are Juliane Bray in ninth and Ben Stewart in 13th.

Following todays competition, Ryo Aono maintains his position at the top of the mens FIS Halfpipe World Cup rankings while Shiho Nakashima takes pole position in the womens.

The next stop on the LG FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup tour is at Saas Fee, Switzerland on October 31. For further information and full results, visit www.fis-ski.com.




LINK:
www.fis-ski.com



For further media information, please contact:
Victoria Murray-Orr, EveNZ
T: +64 3 443 2700  E: vmo@evenz.co.nz