Piiroinen is the star of the BEO and the Swatch TTR ranking

Laax, Switzerland – 16th January 2010: It was a perfect sunny day on the Crap Sogn Gion in Laax, Switzerland for the final day of competition at the 6Star Burton European Open. The nail biting last runs of the prestigious halfpipe finals saw yesterday’s slopestyle winner, Peetu Piiroinen (FIN), take the lead from fellow Finn Ilkka-Eemeli Laari, who took second place, and Swiss rider Iouri Podladtchikov who finished in third place. The women’s title went to Paulina Ligocka (POL) with Swiss Olympic hopeful Ursina Haller in second and Akiko Miwa (JAP) in third.

All Men On the Podium Landed the Infamous Double Cork
Variations of the double cork were demonstrated by all the riders who made the men’s podium for the halfpipe competition. Leading up to his last run, Peetu had bailed twice trying the much talked about trick. But it was only in his last run when he finally landed it and received huge cheers from the crowd. With his signature amplitude and precision Piiroinen laid down a winning run consisting of a Frontside 7 Mute, Cab Double Cork 10, Frontside 9, Backside Air and a stylish Backside Alley Oop 5 Tailgrab. The celebrating Piiroinen, who now has a hefty lead in the Swatch TTR Rankings, commented; “It was hard to imagine that I could win both contests. I wasn’t that nervous, but I just wanted to have that run so I just decided that I’m going to land it now. Because I had three runs and I had to at least land one of them.” Piiroinen is setting himself up nicely for a shot at becoming the first ever two-time Swatch TTR World Champion.

Women’s TTR Tour 6Star Marathon Winding Down
January’s final 6Star event result has now been secured in a series of four possible results within two weeks for the women. Sarka Pancochova (CZE) has strengthened her tour lead and Sina Candrian (SUI) is now in World No 2. With the first TTR win of her career, Paulina Ligocka jumped into Swatch TTR World No 45. She was stoked on her victory: “This is my first ever victory in a TTR event, I can’t even describe how big this is for me”. She nailed her run consisting of a Frontside 9, Backside Air, Crail, Tailgrab, Frontside 7, Cab 3 Shifty. Ursina Haller who only weeks ago won the 6Star O’Neill Evolution halfpipe is quickly climbing up the ranking and with today’s 2nd place she sits in World No. 11. Though today Norwegian Lisa Wiik did not stomp her runs in the final she took 8th place and moved into TTR World No. 3.

All European TTR Top 5
The absence of American riders due to the Olympic qualifications gave the European riders an edge at this year’s European Open. As of now, the Swatch TTR Top 5 consists of European riders only for both men and women. Ursina’s brother, Christian Haller (SUI), took 8th place today, which pushed him into TTR World No. 2 ahead of Marko Grilc (SLO). “It feels great to be second. Today it could have gone better, but second is good. I will go to the Canadian Open, and for sure also the US Open and the Arctic Challenge.” With these events in the plans his chances are high to remain in the TTR top 5.
What Next?
Up next on the Swatch TTR World Tour are a few 3Star events on the calendar and the 5Star Canadian Open at the beginning of February. The TTR Tour lays low during the Olympics and is back with a bang with the 6Star Oakley Arctic Challenge that had been postponed from December to March .

Video Event Highlights
To catch up with any TTR action take a peak at www.ttrworldtour.com for all the latest video highlights from the O’Neill Evolution and Roxy Chicken Jam events. Also, take a minute to view the fresh TTR Rider Check Out videos to get an inside glimpse into the minds of riders on tour. Join the facebook fan page for exclusive “sneak peak” edits.

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Author: silvia