Kelly Clark continues domination of women’s halfpipe competition at 2012 Burton European Open
America’s Kelly Clark put on a dominating performance to clinch top honours in the women’s halfpipe final at Burton European Open that went down at LAAX, Switzerland, on Saturday, March 3.
Finishing in runner-up place was yet another American Gretchen Bleiler, whereas Japan’s Yuki Furihata finished third to complete the podium.
The 28-year-old Clark has been dominating the halfpipe competitions for the last two seasons, with her streak coming to 16 with her latest win. She was missing from the Burton Canadian Open Final following a crash in practice, but returned back to action
this past weekend to assert her dominance in the sport and reclaim her place on the throne.
With the best female snowboarders in the field for the 6Star Ticket to Ride (TTR) event, Clark surely had her work cut out for her. Spain’s Queralt Castellet, who had won the previous stop of the Burton Global Open series in Canada, was also among the riders
competing for top honours.
However, Clark seemed to be well-prepared to take her fellow riders on in a battle for the coveted top spot on the podium.
In her very first run of the Final on Saturday, the American phenom landed a dominating run to take an early lead.
However, she managed to improve her score even further by putting on a spectacular show in her second run. She threw a flawless front-side 900, front-side grab, back-side 540, her signature front-side 1080 before finishing it off with a Cab 720 Mute. The
run scored a 91.45 to put her well ahead of her rivals in the Final, consequently sealing the fate of the contest in her favour.
Bleiler landed a pretty impressive second run of her own, which comprised of a front-side 900 tail grab, front-side alley-oop mute grab, front-side tail grab, Cab 720 before capping it off with a front-side 540. The effort earned her an 82.33 to put her
in second place. She was unable to improve on her score in the third score after crashing out on the deck.
Furihata also managed to secure a place on the podium after a pretty solid second-run that included a McTwist, crippler 540, back-side air, front-side inverted 720 and Cab 5 for a score of 72.63.
With the conclusion of 2012 Burton European Open, Clark cemented her No.1 place in the overall standings even further, while Bleiler replaced Castellet in second place, pushing the latter to third place.
The final stop of the Burton Global Open, Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships, will run from March 7 – 10 at Stratton Mountain in Vermont.
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