Shiga, Japan (September 17, 2017) – The final journey of the WWA Wakeboard World Series (WBWS) and Malibu Evolution Pro Series brought the world’s best riders by planes, trains, and automobiles to the Malibu Lake Biwa Pro for 2017’s final showdown. With yesterday’s qualifying rounds in the books, the official event opening ceremony kicked off day two of the Malibu Lake Biwa Pro. Although Typhoon Talim coming up Japan’s coast threatened to affect conditions, luck was on our side today with calm winds, amazing action and a shakeup in the heats for tomorrow that will bring the overall title race down to the thinnest wire.
“We are excited to be in Japan at this beautiful site here on Lake Biwa. Just when we thought the Wakeboard World Series couldn’t get any tighter, some surprises in today’s heats set the final rounds up to be insane with everything riding on each trick. I can’t wait to see how it all shakes out,” said WWA Executive Director Corrie Wilson.
In Pro Men’s quarterfinal heat one, Dean Smith (AUS) attacked the wake for his last pro event to take the top spot, landing a massive B/S 180 and a T/S 900 for a score of 80.00. Parker Siegele (AUS) took down heat two with 71.00 landing a H/S 720 and a Moby Dick. In heat three, Shota Tezuka (JPN) put on a show as the crowd cheered him on, hitting a big nose grab H/S 720 and crail T/S roll-to-blind. Heat four went to Cory Teunissen (AUS) who threw down two stand-up passes that included a switch T/S 900 and a stomped mute mobe to score 90.00. Massi Piffaretti (ITA) kept it smooth to win heat five with 90.00, putting down the most stylish roast beef tootsie in the game and a nose grab KGB.
Raph Derome (CDN) won heat six, fighting through some tough mid-day conditions and getting technical with a wrapped T/S B/S 540 for 71.67 points. This kept podium contender Mike Dowdy out of the top spot in the heat, putting him in a serious semifinal tomorrow with Raph, Harley Clifford and Japan’s Asada Issei.
“It wasn’t easy out there for sure but the M235 wake was on point as always and I took the win in a tough heat. I was happy to stand it up today and I’m stoked for tomorrow!” said Malibu team rider Raph Derome.
The final day of action at the Malibu Lake Biwa Pro begins at 10:00 a.m. JST on Monday, September 18th.
CLICK HERE to download results from day 2 of the Malibu Lake Biwa Pro.
CLICK HERE to view the daily schedule.
For more information on the WWA Wakeboard World Series Click Here.
About Malibu: Malibu Boats is the world’s largest manufacturer of watersports towboats, owning almost 50% of the worldwide market share. Malibu sells the Wakesetter, M235 and Response models — as well as the Axis Wake Research brand — through a global dealer network. With approximately 525 employees worldwide and three manufacturing facilities in California, Tennessee, and Australia, Malibu builds boats to help you live a #lifewithoutlimits on the water. [NASDAQ: MBUU] | @malibuboats | #thetruthisonthewater
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About The WWA: Developed for riders by riders, the World Wake Association stands as a global network of passionate representatives dedicated to the growth of towed boardsports. Since 1989 our mission and values remain true to the core of our community. Our position as the authority on competitive standards has been earned through consistent development; sanctioning and producing more than 6,000 worldwide events and counting. We are the only organization solely focused on the best interests of the sport, spearheading a collective movement on the journey to discover where wake takes you. The WWA owns and operates the WWA Wakeboard World Series, WWA Wake Park World Series, WWA Wakeboard National Championships, WWA Wake Park National Championships, WWA Wakeboard World Championships, WWA Wake Park World Championships, WWA Wake Park Triple Crown, WWA Pro Card and WWA Rider Experience. For more information on the World Wake Association, check out www.thewwa.com.
