On November 7/9, the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF) will celebrate the staging of its 25th Waterski World Cup Stop in a truly spectacular location. Situated just a short distance from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Putrajaya Lake promises to be a revelation to many in the watersports world. Putrajaya is a magnificent planned city and is the new federal administrative centre of Malaysia. Founded as recently as 1995, it was constructed on the site of the famous old rubber plantations and is now located in the centre of what is known as Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor. A high-speed rail link to Kuala Lumpur International Airport also provides easy access for visitors. The Conference Centre and Hotels at the edge of the lake complete the perfect picture for this World Cup event.
The 14 countries represented at the Putrajaya World Cup Stop will include competitors from France, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, USA, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Colombia, Belarus, Belgium, Mexico and Switzerland. Special delegations and VIP groups will also arrive from China, Russia, India, Korea, Indonesia and Australia. The global spotlight of the World Cup will certainly be on Putrajaya on November 7/9.
This 25th World Cup Stop in the series will feature Slalom, Shortboard and Jump. Only the highest ranked IWSF athletes in the world qualify for entry. In each discipline, 12 Men and 8 Women have been selected to take part. With just Putrajaya and Doha in Qatar remaining on the 2008 World Cup calendar, the battle for the overall World Cup season title is now in its closing stages. In fact, this Putrajaya Stop will feature the last Jump contest of 2008 and so the season World Cup Crystal Trophy winner will be announced on November 9th at the conclusion of this Stop. Being the first major international Waterski event ever staged in Putrajaya Lake, ensures that all are greatly looking forward to this inaugural visit.
The Malaysian Water Ski Federation, headed by Datuk T.Y Lee and his team, have already installed all the equipment required for the World Cup. The very impressive four storey glass control tower which will house the IWSF Judges, Officials and technical equipment, will also house many of the TV cameras which will deliver the TV News Edit and World Cup TV show for distribution to over 500 million viewers.
The previous Waterski World Cup Stop was staged in Dubna, Russia, on the Volga River. On that occasion, with an audience of 30,000 enthusiastic spectators, the top performances were well spread across the nations. In Slalom, it was Canada’s Whitney McClintock and Jodi Fisher from Great Britain who took those titles. In Shortboard it was Clementine Lucine (FRA) and Jaret Llewellyn from Canada. The Jump titles were taken by Natalia Berdnikava from Belarus and Freddy Krueger (USA). In Putrajaya, major changes are anticipated. Injuries have forced a few withdrawals. In other cases, new contenders have qualified for entry. World Shortboard Record holder Nicolas LeForestier (FRA), has made a miraculous recovery from a serious arm injury prior to the Dubna Russia Stop and will now return to the water with a vengeance ! Clementine Lucine, also from France, set a new Pending World Shortboard Record of 8840 points last weekend and will be keen to add the Putrajaya title to her many great victories. At this time, no athlete has an easy pass to the Putrajaya World Cup Podium. This promises to make it a truly memorable World Cup event once again.
As for all previous twenty four Waterski and Wakeboard World Cup Stops, MasterCraft will supply the official boats and technical support.
NEWSFLASH : Since the inauguration of the Waterski and Wakeboard World Cup series, this Stop on November 7/9 will also make history by being the first to feature a live Webcast. If you just cannot make it to Malaysia for what promises to be a spectacular World Cup weekend, watch out for full details of the URL for the Webcast in the coming days. You will also be able to follow the details on our World Cup Web site at