Pro Wakeboarding Playoffs Begin:
King of Wake Starts 2011 Chase for the Crown
Orlando, Fla. – Professional wakeboarding’s elite competition series, the King of Wake, is officially in playoff mode, with the start of the 2011 Chase for the Crown. The Chase is a three-stop stretch, in which just 10 riders will try to top each other in the point standings for most prestigious crown in wakeboarding.
Since 2006, the King of Wake series has incorporated the Chase for the Crown into its format to prevent any single rider from running away with the title. In fact, the Chase format almost guarantees that the overall winner will be determined by the results of the very last contest of the season.
| In order to keep things close, the King of Wake series manually adjusts the points of the top 10 riders, midway through the season, to shrink the lead between each other._For example, without the Chase system in place, points-leader Phillip Soven would have a 258-point advantage over 10th seed Dean Smith. But with the Chase format, Soven’s 258-point lead over Smith is cut to just a 53-point difference.The point totals of the top 10 riders were adjusted following the results of the recent Pro Tour stop in Monroe, Wash. |
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The following riders are involved in the 2011 Chase for the Crown: Phillip Soven, Harley Clifford, Bob Soven, Rusty Malinoski, Steel Lafferty, Aaron Rathy, Shaun Murray, Olivier Derome, Austin Hair and Dean Smith.
Those 10 riders will have the following three contests to top each other for the crown: the Nautique WWA Wakeboard Nationals (July 27-31); WWA Wakeboard Worlds (August 18-21), presented by Supra; and the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour finale (August 27 & 28).
Since its inception in 2005, the King of Wake series has only had four different crown bearers, with defending champion Phillip Soven currently in pursuit of his fourth title.
| RANK | ATHLETE | POINT TOTAL | |
| 1 | Phillip Soven | 965 | |
| 2 | Harley Clifford | 955 | |
| 3 | Bob Soven | 945 | |
| 4 | Rusty Malinoski | 940 | |
| 5 | Steel Lafferty | 935 | |
| 6 | Aaron Rathy | 930 | |
| 7 | Shaun Murray | 925 | |
| 8 | Olivier Derome | 920 | |
| 9 | Austin Hair | 916 | |
| 10 | Dean Smith | 912 |
