Liquid Force’s Soven and Galotifore Take Fort Worth!
Fort Worth, Texas – Fans packed the shores of Lake Moser at Texas MasterCraft today to catch the final rounds of action at the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour stop in Fort Worth. Riders spent the day battling it out behind the MasterCraft X-Star for wins in the Jr. Pro Men, Pro Men and Pro Women’s divisions.
The Pro Men kicked off the final day of action with their quarterfinal round, where 20 riders hit the water in five heats of four. The quarterfinals cut the competition in half, only advancing the top two riders from each heat onto the semifinals.
The semifinals quickly narrowed down the field of riders to setup the six-man final, but not without a massive upset in the process. Aussie phenom and top-seeded rider, Harley Clifford failed to advance past the semifinals, placing fourth in his five-man heat.
The finals pinned Austin Hair, Bryan Hutton, Rusty Malinoski, Phillip Soven, Danny Harf and Olivier Derome against each other in the final round of action. All eyes were on the new top seed, Rusty Malinoski to see if he duplicate his 2007 Fort Worth winning-run, but fell short to two-time Pro Tour titlist Phillip Soven.
Soven’s Backside 720 off the double up helped push the Florida native to the top of the contest podium, with Malinoski and four-time X Games gold medalist Danny Harf rounding out the top three, respectively.
“I rode really well, stuck my Back 7 and came out on top,” said Soven. “I didn’t expect to win; really thought Rusty [Malinoski] had it, but I ended up taking Fort Worth.”
With the second stop of the 2010 season in the books, Soven and Malinoski are now tied at 180 points in the Pro Tour standings, with Soven taking the tie-breaker due to his win today. Harley Clifford now sits in third place with 160 points.
Soven’s younger brother, Bob, lost to Phillip in their shared quarterfinal heat today, but beat him out in the Rockstar Energy Drink Big-Air Challenge. Bob Soven’s massive Indy Backside 180 off the kicker earned him $1,000 for the winning trick. Texan Tom Fooshee and Phillip Soven rounded out the top three in the Challenge, respectively.
In the Jr. Pro Men’s division, riders hit the water in two heats of five for their semifinal round. Only the top two riders from each heat advanced, sending Steel Lafferty, Kyle Evans, Nick Galotifore and Daniel Powers to the four-man final.
All four rippers threw down some series runs, but current Tour leader Nick Galotifore continued to impress the judges to win his second consecutive Pro Tour stop of the season. Lafferty and Evans rounded out the Jr. Pro Men’s podium, respectively.
Following Fort Worth, the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour will head to Elizabethtown, KY, on June 18 & 19, for the third stop of 2010 season. Additional venues for the Pro Tour include Colorado Springs, CO; Knoxville, TN and Acworth, GA.
To catch all the high-flying, rail-sliding, water-sports action of the Fort Worth Pro Tour stop on television, tune in to FUEL TV on Aug. 10 at 8 p.m. EST.
For more information on the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, including news, daily schedules, tickets, TV info, photos, videos, athlete bios, results, standings and more, visit www.allisports.com.
The MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour is organized by World Sports & Marketing of Orlando, Fla., and has the support of the following sponsors: MasterCraft, Rockstar Energy Drink, Overton’s, Indmar, Peavey, Mona Vie, Billabong, Hyperlite, CWB, Ronix, Liquid Force, Byerly, Oakley, Sayiwon’t, Epiphone, WakeBoarding magazine, Fuel TV and Allisports.com.
About MasterCraft
MasterCraft is the exclusive tow boat for the Pro Wakeboard Tour, as it has been since the tour’s wakeboarding events began in 1992. Indmar Marine engines will provide the power for MasterCraft’s X Series line of competition tow boats.
About FUEL TV
FUEL TV is the action sports lifestyle network for skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX, motocross, and wakeboarding. Through its original and commissioned series and specials, short-form content, films, and prestigious event coverage, the channel features action sports athletes, emerging musicians, celebrities, and breaking news. FUEL TV was launched July 1, 2003 and is seen in more than 30 million U.S. homes. FUEL TV has networks in Australia (FUEL TV Australia) and Portugal (FUEL TV Portugal) and its content is viewed in more than 50 countries around the world.
About WakeBoarding Magazine
WakeBoarding, published by Bonnier Corp., is the official magazine of the Pro Tour. Read about all things wakeboarding, with expert coverage of professional instruction, gear, boats and news.
About King of Wake
The King of Wake is the world’s elite pro wakeboarding series, attracting the sport’s top athletes from throughout the globe. Over the course of a season, athletes compete for the ultimate wakeboarding crown in a series points race of eight events throughout the United States to see who rules the wake. The 2010 series consists of the Wake Games, the WWA Wakeboard National Championships, the WWA Wakeboard World Championships and all five stops on the Pro Wakeboard Tour. The King of Wake is organized by World Sports & Marketing – the leading wake-events producer since 1988.
About Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports
Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports, is a global business that encompasses national and international action-sports tours and events, multimedia production and a consumer-facing lifestyle brand. The Alliance includes: the King of Wake series, Dew Tour, Winter Dew Tour, China Invitational, Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and Gatorade Free Flow Tour. Alli Productions creates original content, produces and presents content with partners and distributes Alli content through a variety of channels. Alli is owned by NBC Sports and MTV Networks and represents a network of athletes, fans, brands and properties. Its mission is to facilitate the momentous growth of action sports, through competition and lifestyle, for a new generation of fans and athletes.
Saturday, June 12 – Final Results:
Pro Men
Finals: Heat #1
1. Phillip Soven 81.67
2. Rusty Malinoski 73.33
3. Danny Harf 67.50
4. Olivier Derome 63.33
5. Bryan Hutton 58.33
6. Austin Hair 43.33
Pro Women
Finals: Heat #1
1. Nicola Butler 83.33
2. Raimi Merritt 61.67
3. Hayley Smith 60.00
4. Anna Hajek 36.67
5. Amber Wing 10.00
6. Dallas Friday DNC
Jr. Pro Men
Finals: Heat #1
1. Nick Galotifore 89.75
2. Steel Lafferty 88.75
3. Kyle Evans 85.50
4. Daniel Powers 76.00