Podladtchikov takes title and swatch world n.2 at Burton Canandian Open

Sunny conditions at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary saw the first format of the 5Star Burton Canadian Open Snowboard Championships this Saturday. After a week of qualifying rounds, the halfpipe format ended today with an electrifying final that saw Kendall Brown (NZE) and Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI) taking home the titles and 850 TTR ranking points. With today’s result Podladtchikov made a great leap in the world ranking list, now sitting in World No. 2. It remains to be seen if he can narrow the gap to the coveted No. 1 spot in the upcoming events.

Podladtchikov ruling with double cork, air and lots of style
Stomping a clean second run consisting of a Cab 1080 double cork mute, frontside 1080 tailgrab, Cab 720 mute, frontside 540 tail and backside air, Iouri has reason to be content with today’s performance. It bumped him up the TTR Ranking ahead of fellow countryman Christian Haller (SUI) who did not make it to Calgary. Keeping his feet firmly on the ground he has got his eyes on the top spot, but knows he has a lot of work ahead of him, “I want to go further up of course, but it’s going to be really hard because Peetu is in the lead with 120 TTR points I think. But there are still some events and it is possible and I am really looking forward to the next events. It’s been a good year and I want to stay there for sure and not move down anymore.”

Iouri may want to watch out for Markus Malin (FIN) who took third place today and jumped six places into World No. 6. Markus excelled today by unleashing a crowd pleasing double cork at the end of his run. Another rider eager to catch up with Iouri is young Norwegian Stale Sandbech who did not land either of his runs in the semifinals today, but who will be riding in Sunday’s slopestyle finals giving him another chance to take over that prestigious spot right behind current Swatch TTR World Tour leader, Peetu Piiroinen (FIN).

Shake Up in The Women’s Swatch TTR Top 5
New Zealand’s Kendall Brown flew the highest today and landed a stylish lien air, backside 540 mute, frontside 540 stalefish, backside air and air to fakie. But it was Lisa Wiik (NOR) who took the spotlight on the TTR Tour by moving into World No. 2 with her 5th place finish. She will have to step it up at tomorrow’s slopestyle competition as Sina Candrian (SUI) is right behind her in rank three on the world ranking list. Both riders are known for their slopestyle skills which will make for an action filled battle this Sunday. Cilka Sadar (SLO) has also improved her ranking by one spot and is now sitting in World No. 4. Recent winner of the slopestyle format of the 6Star Burton European Open and Roxy Chicken Jam, Enni Rukajärvi (FIN) finished 8th in today’s halfpipe format and will surely be a strong contender for the title tomorrow. She is looking to improve her World No. 6 spot on the Swatch TTR World Tour.

Watch Tomorrow’s Slopestyle Finals Live
The 5Star Burton Canadian Open Slopestyle Finals tomorrow for both men and women is set to be action packed with the tension rising as the Swatch TTR tour is well on its way. Don’t miss any of the action and tune into the live webcast on www.go211.com. TTR will of course keep you updated not only on the website, but also on Twitter and Facebook. News and photos will be also available on www.opensnowboarding.com

NEWSLETTER: Another great way to keep posted is the Swatch TTR newsletter, which you can subscribe to on the homepage of www.ttrworldtour.com.

Results Halfpipe Women
1 Kendall Brown NZL
2 Sarah Conrad CAN
3 Mercedes Nicoll CAN

Results Halfpipe Men
1 Iouri Podladtchikov SUI
2 Justin Lamoureux CAN
3 Markus Malin FIN

Swatch TTR World Ranking List – Top 10 as of 06.02.2010

Rank	Name	Nation	Results	Points
1	Piiroinen, Peetu	FIN	6	924.64
2	Podladtchikov, Iouri	SUI	6	802.5
3	Haller, Christian	SUI	6	691.91
4	Grilc, Marko	SLO	6	686
5	Sandbech, Stale	NOR	6	669.82
6	Malin, Markus	FIN	5	634.7
7	Holvik, Tore	NOR	6	608.37
8	Smits, Seppe	BEL	6	587.25
9	Autti, Antti	FIN	5	579.82
10	Braaten, Gjermund	NOR	6	573.69

Rank	Name	Nation	Results	Points
1	Pancochova, Sarka	CZE	6	796.79
2	Wiik, Lisa	NOR	6	773.56
3	Candrian, Sina	SUI	6	771.3
4	Sadar, Cilka	SLO	6	741.5
5	Maas, Cheryl	NED	6	706.53
6	Rukajärvi, Enni	FIN	6	677.34
7	Haller, Ursina	SUI	5	569.6
8	Norendal, Silje	NOR	6	526.02
9	Gotlieb, Shelly	NZL	5	517.68
10	Fuller, Aimee	GBR	6	508.58

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ABOUT SWATCH TTR:
Founded by Terje Haakonsen and industry innovators in 2002, the Swatch Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour is a non-profit, rider-driven organization with the mission “to create the highest quality competitive snowboard environment in the world, using authenticity, accessibility, innovation as guiding principles”. Since its foundation, the Swatch TTR Tour has been developing into the most exposed snowboard tour worldwide featuring global grass root and key independent freestyle snowboarding events over a ten-month period from Southern to Northern Hemisphere locations. Events are rated via a 1-through-6Star system, with points allocated accordingly, a 6Star event holds the highest (1000 points). Any rider participating in these events, from up-and-coming to professional talent, earns ranking points and a position on the Swatch TTR World Ranking List. The top male and female rider based on an average of their best six results of the season (5+1 system) is crowned Swatch TTR World Snowboard Champion. For more information visit www.ttrworldtour.com.