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NZ athlete Hamilton to compete at Star O'Neil Evolution in Europe

Wednesday 31 December 2008, 7:50AM

By TTR

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The 6Star O’Neill Evolution in Davos, January 5th – 10th 2009 will kick the Swatch TTR Snowboard Tour back into overdrive as some of the world’s best snowboarders rock into the Swiss town to fight it out for TTR glory. The first TTR 6Star competition on European soil in 2009 has a plethora of points spread over two formats and promises to set up for some exciting new ranking changes. First up, riders will tackle the 5Star Slopestyle course and with 850 ranking points the first day and a total prize purse of $100,000 USD up for grabs the competition will be fierce.

A Tour lead change could go down and we are guaranteed to see some new faces in the Swatch TTR Top 5. Currently sitting in TTR World No.4, Janne Korpi (FIN) has the opportunity to snatch the top spot away from Chas Guldemond (USA), provided he can step it up on the Slopestyle course. Although Guldemond is not yet confirmed on the riders list for this year’s Evolution there is a strong chance we will see him returning to Davos to defend his TTR No.1 position.

With Finland well represented at the competition we can expect Risto Mattila and Peetu Piiroinen to fire it up as a good result on the Slopestyle course could catapult them into the TTR Top 5. All this season’s Finnish competitors put in strong performances at last year’s event, bagging four out of six possible podium positions between them. These results may give them the confidence to stage a repeat performance this season.

The new kid on the block, Seb Toots (CAN) will be looking to capitalize on the hype surrounding his arrival to the big time and with a top 5 finish on the Slopestyle course he has the potential to jump into the TTR Top 5 as well. Like Mattila and Piiroinen, Seb is coming straight into this competition following a top 10 result at the 6Star Nissan X-Trail Jam and will be going for broke as he chases his TTR dreams.

The O’Neill Evolution will also see the likes of Dimi De Jong (NED), Victor De Le Rue (FRA) and Elias Elhardt (GER) stepping it up on the big stage. The Euro crew will be further bolstered by Colin Frei (SUI), Olivier Gittler (FRA) and Jamie Nicholls (GBR). Last year’s Highest Air winner Manuel Pietropoli (ITA) will be in attendance alongside Martin Cernik (CZE) and Seppe Smits (BEL), who recently claimed 2nd place in the 4Star Horsefeathers Pleasure Jam in Austria. James Hamilton (NZE), one of the most dominating during the Downunder season, will be out to prove he’s got what it takes in the Northern Hemisphere contests as will American rider Tim Humphreys..

All the action from the O’Neill Evolution will be broadcasted on www.oneilltv.com, www.freecaster.tv and www.mpora.com. To watch the action live log on January 9th 2009, 15.45 – 22.30 CET (Slopestyle) and January 10th 2009, 15.45 – 22.30h CET (Quarterpipe). For video updates, news and ranking changes from the events going down around the world make sure you check out www.ttrworldtour.com. Around the other side of the globe the top Asian rookies will be fighting it out at the 3Star EXR Snowboard Asian Tour in Korea.

Stay tuned because the TTR Title race in January will be well and truly underway as riders battle it out for international glory. With a total prize money payout of $2 million USD including event prize money on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour the stakes are high.

Top 10 Season 08/09 TTR World Snowboard Rankings as of 30.12.2008
Rank Name Nation Results Points
1 Guldemond, Chas USA DC, ELECTRIC 689,15
2 Maurer, Stephan SUI BURTON, CLAST, NIXON, OAKLEY, SIGSAGSUG 557,64
3 Horgmo, Torstein NOR DC, OAKLEY 556,01
4 Korpi, Janne FIN KISSMARK, ONEILL, SMITH, LEVEL, OGIO, VANS 523
5 Reid, Charles CAN ANON, AXIS, BURTON, NOMIS 499,93
6 Mitrani, Luke USA BURTON, MOTOROLA, OAKLEY 495,37
7 Pearce, Kevin USA BURTON, VOLCOM, OAKLEY, ADIO, FRENDS, GO211.COM 467,16
8 Sörman, Chris SWE BURTON, DRAGON, NEFF, CLAST 437,8
9 Malin, Markus FIN BONFIRE, SALOMON 389,75
10 Uotila, Ville FIN ATOMIC, HORSEFEATHERS, BOLLE, TSG, BLUE TOMATO 386,69