11th Cable Wakeboard and 1st Wakeskate European Championships 2009 from Cable Wakeboard on Vimeo.
Favorites missed the titles at European Cable Wakeboard ChampionshipsEverybody already expected that we will see sport on a really high level here in Ukkohalla. Nevertheless it was impressive and nearly incredible what the riders showed on the second day of the European championship in Finland.
Already in the semifinals 9 of the top 10 riders worldwide showed how tight the
competition is going to be. On the one hand some riders who just moved up to the open
category and on the other hand riders like the German Dominik G?hrs make it even
more challenging in this class.
This demonstrates the development in the boardsport scene, within the last year and
also the increasing interest in boardsports.
Even before the heros of cable wakeboarding started their finals, the wakeskaters had to
show their tricks. Everyone who ever skated in his life can imagine how skilled you have
to be to ride a skate on the water.
At their first official Wakeskate European championships, the male riders showed how
talented they are and not just the Wakeboarders were impressed by that.
Lukas S?? from Duisburg in Germany won the first gold in the history of wakeskating.
Together with Tim Schwiertz and Frederik Kuepper there were 3 German riders on the
podium.
In the open category of the wakeskaters Andy Kolb, the indisputable worlds best
wakeskater in this scene won the title. With a difference of 10 points to the second place
he showed how talented he is and why he is the new European champion.
Just before 4 pm it was the Wakeboarders turn again. The medals were awarded to
Place 1 with 81,00 points - Loic Le Bras (FRA); Place 2: Florian Keim (GER) and Place 3:
Hermann Emmer (AUS).
In the following finals of the Junior Men the german- and worldchampion Moritz Petri
was not participating. He was already knocked out in the semifinals when he risked way
too much and fell in both runs.
At 6 pm and right in time the livestream was sent by 67 web tv channels worldwide. In
this way everyone who is interested in boardsport got the possibility to watch what was
going on at the European championships.
Straight away in the Semi Finals of the Open men, for some riders not everything was
going the way it should be. Nick Davies (GB) had several problems with his run. In the
finals the spectators got to watch the expected battle on the water. All riders risked
nearly everything. Everyone already knew by that time, that the one rider with an
absolute dream run had the chance to reach first place. The Austrian Daniel Fetz missed
the final after a crash right at the engine tower. After his runs in the qualification this
was pretty unexpected. Lior Sofer from Israel also missed his qualification for the final.
They could not keep up with the speed and shortness of intervals of the high-level tricks
anymore. Not at all an easy job for chiefjudge Tibor Althans (D) and his judges George
Newell (GBR), Maximilian Gerth (D) and Sebastiaan Huizinga (NL).
Mobe5, Toeside Frontside900, Double S-bend are only a few of the inverted tricks which
are shown at this european championship. Even the Finnish top riders of the snowboard
scene like Eero Ettala (european rider of the year), and 20 other top snowboarder and
rookies from Finland who arrived here with Eero Ettala, were really impressed.
It is nice to be at the northernmost Cableway of the world. Everyone said: "We will come again" - for snowboarding, wakeboarding or just for holidays - it is always worth to travel to Ukkohalla.
Interviews with the Winners
Interviews shot at the 11th Cable Wakeboard and 1st Wakeskate European Championships 2009 in Ukkohalla, Finland from Cable Wakeboard on Vimeo.
Full Final Press Release