Damon Hayler has posted his best result of the season, finishing in fourth place in a snowboard cross World Cup in Sungwoo, Korea. Hayler qualified well down in 20th position, but fought his way through the head-to-head final rounds to claim a place in the four-man final.
Damon Hayler has posted his best result of the season, finishing in fourth place in a snowboard cross World Cup in Sungwoo, Korea.
Hayler qualified well down in 20th position, but fought his way through the head-to-head final rounds to claim a place in the four-man final.
He finished second to Graham Watanabe in the opening round of 32, went down to the US rider again in the quarter finals, but then won his semi-final heat.
But the run stopped in the final, the Sydney 31-year-old finishing fourth for his best result since winning bronze in Saas-Fee in October 2005.
Alex Pullin was a casualty in Hayler’s round of 32 heat, finishing in fourth position for an overall placing of 19th.
French rider Pierre Vaultier won the gold, and moved into the lead in the World Cup standings.
Nate Holland of the US was second, with the bronze going to Mateusz Ligocki of Poland.
“It was a challenging day for all athletes battling down this very technical course,” said OWI Head Snowboard Coach Ben Wordsworth.
“The racing was tight and fast and there was some of the most spectacular riding I have seen to date.”
“This was a great result for Damon, setting him up for the World Championships in 2009.”
“He is feeling strong and confident about the rest of the season and looking forward to next week’s event in Japan.”
“Alex Pullin was unlucky in his first heat in one of the banks, sketching out on a heel-side turn. He was in second position at the time and this minor mistake was enough to allow Damon to move through and progress into the final rounds.
“Alex was disappointed with his result and he is also looking forward to Japan.”
The result dropped Pullin out of the top ten to 13th place on the World Cup standings on 1032 points.
Hayler has moved up to 24th position on 600 points, while Vaultier leads the standings on 2950 points.
Canadian Maelle Ricker won the women’s event from Lindsay Jacobellis of the USA.
The team now will take a few days off in Korea before flying to Japan.
In the women's parallel giant slalom, Joh Shaw was lying in 18th place after the first round of qualifying, but unfortunately slipped back to 27th position in the second qualifying run, for an overall placing of 26th.
Doris Guenther of Austria won the event from Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands, the current World Cup PGS leader.
