White And Jones Take Slopestyle Semifinals At The Burton European Open 2008

The tension is rising at the Burton European Open 2008. The slopestyle semi-finals for men and women saw upsets and some potential new comers in the Swatch TTR rankings. The top eight female riders, and the top sixteen male riders will move on to the slopestyle finals on Thursday, the winners earning another highly coveted 1000 ranking points.

The women were the first to hit the unique set up of slopestyle features, and with the results, we could definitely see a new women’s TTR World No. 1. 06/07 World No. 2 Jenny Jones (GBR) took first with a sick line, complete with smooth hits on the boxes and a massive BS 5. Jamie Anderson (USA) brought along her buttery style earning her second place going into the finals. Both Jones and Anderson will be competing head to head in Thursday’s finals for the Women’s World No. 1 spot, currently held by American rider Kelly Clark. Rounding out the semi-final Top 3, Silvia Mittermueller threw down a solid run and will hope to carry her momentum into the finals.

Shaun White on the Slopestyle course (c) BEO Images

The men’s slopestyle semi-finals immediately followed the women’s session. The guys set the bar high for Thursday, and similar to the women, we could see a new Men’s Tour Leader following the finals. 06/07 Tour Champion Shaun White (USA) took the lead early on and held it throughout the session, stomping technical combos and landing huge 10s off the kickers. This is White’s first Swatch TTR SIX(6)STAR competition this season and he’s got a lot of catching up to do if he intends to defend his Tour Title. Nokia Air & Style Munich 07 rookie challenge winner Tim Humphreys (USA) stomped a sick line earning second in the semi-finals while Canadian rider Jason Dubois took third.

Two riders to look out for in the slopestyle finals of the Swatch TTR SIX(6)STAR Burton European Open are Chas Guldemond (USA), who finished 6th in the semis, and Finnish rider Risto Mattila who finished 12th. A total of 16 riders are headed into the finals, and both Guldemond and Mattila could move into the Men’s World No. 1 spot following the slopestyle show down.

Tomorrow the halfpipe semi-finals will determine the top male and female riders who could take home the second batch of 1000 ranking points available at the two-format Burton European Open. Be sure to check out the TTR homepage for news updates from Laax, as well as the TTR Video Player for behind the scenes action including shoutouts, interviews and freestyle action from the top TTR riders.

The semi-finals and finals for slopestyle and halfpipe are available live and for replay on www.GO211.com and www.freecaster.tv. The semi-finals for Halfpipe kick off at 12:30 pm CET. 

Slopestyle Semi-Final Results Men:

1.    Shaun White (USA) Burton
2.    Tim Humphreys (USA) Flow
3.    Jason Dubois (CAN) O’Neill
4.    Ville Uotila (FIN) Atomic
5.    Antti Autti (FIN) Flow
6.    Chas Guldemond (USA) DC
7.    Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) Burton
8.    Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) Santa Cruz
9.    Per Iver Grimsrud (NOR) Nitro
10.    Kim Andre Eliassen (NOR) K2
11.    Sami Saarenpaa (FIN) Burton
12.    Risto Mattila (FIN) Flow
13.    Mikkel Bang (NOR) Burton
14.    Charles Reid (CAN) Burton
15.    Sebastian Toutant (CAN) O’Neill
16.    Joel Lahti (FIN) FTWO

Slopestyle Semi-Final Results Women

1.    Jenny Jones (GBR) Billabong
2.    Jamie Anderson (USA) Salomon
3.    Silvia Mittermueller (GER) Oakley
4.    Sina Candrian (SUI) Burton
5.    Meri Peltonen (FIN) Protest
6.    Lisa Filzmoser (AUT) Elan
7.    Kjersti Oestgaard Buaas (NOR) Roxy
8.    Margot Rozies (FRA) Roxy

-Press Release