HARLEY CLIFFORD TAKES

THE 09 CROWN!

        TO SEE FOOTAGE OF THE FINALS AND TO VIEW THE PICTURE GALLERY, GO TO www.theliquidcircus.com

The 2009 Air Nautiques Australian Pro Tour of wakeboarding has wrapped up in a nail biter with a battle for 3^rd and 4^th place being the decider for the tour title in the pro mens division. Aaron Rathy sought revenge for last weeks head to head ousting by Jimmy Lariche with a run straight out of the gates that blew the doors off the other 3 finalists before they had even ridden. He took the win over Jeff Weatherall (2^nd) ‘the amplitude master’ and left the two young guns to scrap for the minor placing’s in the final to sort out the tour title itself. After the 1^st/2^nd , 2^nd/1st combo’s by the two young guns left the title mathematically out of reach for any other single rider once they made the top 16, Harley Clifford (3^rd) applied his technical wizardry to edge Jimmy Lariche (4^th) out of contention and then all that was left was for the champagne to fly on top of the podium.

The Air Nautiques $10 000 prize purse was shared with the Pro Women as they entered the final round in a  deadlock for first place also. Last years tour champion Amber Wing was relegated to 3^rd place for the year while Melissa Marquadt and Hayley Smith played roulette for the title.  In the end Hayley won the day and the belt for her run that had one of the biggest OHH’s we have ever witnessed in women’s wakeboarding in it. Amber wing placed 2^nd for the day and Melissa (4^th) was left only to cheer from deep in the crowd when Shelbey Kantar took her first step on the Aussie Pro Tour podium in 3^rd place after she fought her way back from the L.C.Q. round with a flawless pass and then backed that up in the Women’s final.  

The Junior men’s division wrapped up with QLD’s Mitch Askew winning the day and the overall, as stop 3 saw a shuffle on the lower steps of the podium with Jacob Hore holding down second and a fresh face for week 3, in Parker Siegele taking out 3^rd place.

The 2009 Super Air Nautique 210 was pulled out of the water and packed up for the year and the general consensus for the tour was that next years is going to be even bigger and better with eyes on new event sights and new sponsors to take the competition to a whole new level. The international attendance was the biggest we have seen in the tour’s 7 year history and we look forward to getting stuck into 2010 when it rolls around.

For official photo gallery go to www.theliquidcircus.com