Teen wins women’s Wakeboard World Cup in upset victory

We’ve written about teen wakeboarder Raimi Merritt many times as she’s been pulling out surprising wins ever since turning pro at the age of fourteen.

In another stunning upset victory, 16-year-old Merritt beat out the world’s top women riders to win gold at the IWSF Wakeboard World Cup Championships in Liuzhou, China last weekend. The competitors for the prestigious, invitation-only event included X Games and World Champion Dallas Friday (USA), former World Champion Amber Wing (AUS), Queen of Wake Pro Tour Champion Nicola Butler (GBR), and Asia/Australasia Champion Chen LiLi (CHN).

Despite the challenging water conditions of the Liu River and the pressure of 50,000 spectators, Merritt led each of her qualifying heats to secure the last start off of the dock in the final round. Top-seeded rider Dallas Friday performed well in the finals, scoring 60.69, but Merritt’s two passes in the finals were flawless. Her first pass included a 911, front roll, heel-side grab, a toe five, and a heel three. Her second pass featured an s-bend, toe-side back roll, tantrum, scarecrow, and wrapped KGB. The tricks earned her a score of 62.78 and the women’s Wakeboard World Cup title.

Merritt was surprised by her performance. “Getting first place was amazing,” said Merritt. “The water was really rolling and rough because of other boats and the backwash on the river. I went last in both the semis and the finals, so I had the privilege of watching the other girls ride before me. It looked pretty bad out there, but once you were actually out on the water, it was even worse. I just watched and saw what the girls did. I knew what I needed to do if I wanted to get the gold, so I went out there and tried my best and pulled it together.”

Merritt’s win in China marks her third World Cup title since turning pro two years ago. In 2008, the teenager took gold at the IWSF World Cups in Qatar and Egypt. This past year, Merritt also took second place in the World Games in Taiwan, the Wake Games in Orlando, and the WWA Wake Park World Championships in the Philippines.

U.S. Women defeat China PR 1-0 on Achieve Your Gold Tour

December 14, 2008 – The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team defeated China PR 1-0 in an entertaining match on a cool night at The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles as Tina Ellertson scored her first international goal in the 61st minute.

Ellertson, a defender in her previous 32 caps for the USA, was a forward in college at the University of Washington and started at striker for the first time in her national team career.

Assisting on the goal was forward Amy Rodriguez, who returned to the U.S. team for the first time since the Olympics after completing her senior season at the University of Southern California. After coming on at halftime, Rodriguez’ trademark speed caused problems for the Chinese during the entire second half and it was her blistering pace that created the winning goal.

“I’m so excited, I’m grinning from ear to ear,” said Ellertson, who was out for most of 2008 after having her second child. “I wanted to be back playing and being out there. Today was so awesome. It’s been a while since I played up top but it felt great.”

Goalkeeper Hope Solo made four saves for her 13th shutout of the year and the 41st of her international career.

Veteran Kristine Lilly returned from a nearly 14-month hiatus after taking time off to have her first child and earned her 341st cap when she came on in the 55th minute. The Queen of Caps showed well in her 35 minutes of action, just missing wide at the near post in the 59th minute, and in the 76th minute forced Zhang to make the best save on the night as she dove right to block a low, line drive from 12 yards out.

Midfielder Shannon Boxx,  a SoCal local who grew up near the Home Depot Center, talked to the LA Times before the game. The 31-year-old was feeling burned out last year and credits her re-energized take on the game to U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage.

“I’ve just been enjoying myself so much,” Boxx said after a recent practice. “I’m having fun, I’m laughing, and all of a sudden my game is getting better.”

Nominated again this year for FIFA world player of the year, Boxx will be playing with the Los Angeles Sol when the Women’s Professional Soccer league launches next spring.

Last night’s victory was the USA’s third of 2008 over China after also winning 1-0 in January in Guangzhou and 4-0 in March at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.

With the win, the U.S. extended their record number of wins in a year to 32, with just one loss and one tie. The Achieve Your Gold Tour wraps up on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at Ford Field in Detroit as the U.S. hosts China again and Lindsay Tarpley and Kate Markgraf return to play in their home state.

No business like snow business – Indoor snowpark opens in China

June 18, 2008 – In China, it seems anything is possible – even snowboarding in summer. Indoors. In the city. To prove it, Beijing introduced their newly constructed Burton sponsored indoor snowboard park to the public last Saturday.

The Qiaobo Ice and Snow World is about 40,000 square meters and can accommodate about 3000 people.  The Ski Dome is equipped with a Children’s Snow Paradise, Easy Ski Run and Advanced Ski Run to satisfy the different needs of  skiers. With the unveiling of the all-terrain snowpark, which boasts  a kicker line, wallride as well as rail and box combinations, more people may get into snowboarding since it gets hot as hell in the city and the humidity is unbearable. 

The project is yet another sign of the growing affluence of China’s rising middle and upper classes, who are discovering new ways of spending their income and leisure time. We may well see some of the top snowboarders in the world come from China soon. So girls, next time you head to Beijing - be sure to bring your board.

U.S. WNT wins 2008 Four Nations Tournament with 1-0 victory against China

GUANGZHOU, China; Jan. 20, 2008 – The U.S. Women’s National Team scored a 77th minute goal off a header from midfielder Shannon Boxx to earn a 1-0 victory over China and win the 2008 Four Nations Tournament. It was the first tournament title for new U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage.

The U.S. team swept almost all of the tournament awards as midfielder Lindsay Tarpley scored four times to earn the Top Scorer award, forward Heather O’Reilly was named Tournament MVP, Sundhage was named Best Coach and the USA also won the Fair Play Award, going three games without getting a yellow card. Chinese net-minder Zhang Yanru was named Best Goalkeeper.

Full story at US Soccer

China grooms future sports stars

Jan. 14, 2007 – To represent China on the international stage, kids go to special sports schools to live, train and study. Across the nation, nearly 400,000 young hopefuls in 3,000 sports schools toil to bring glory to their motherland. Most are plucked from elementary school and sent to train at these state-run sports academies before the age of nine.

Given such a concerted culling of China’s 300 million youngsters, it’s perhaps no surprise that in less than two decades of Olympic participation, China has transformed itself from a sporting afterthought with just five gold medals in 1988 to a juggernaut with 28 golds in 2000. Kids with flexible limbs are funneled into gymnastics or diving, while children with quick reflexes are destined for table tennis or badminton.

With Beijing set to host the 2008 Games, China wants to set the tone for the future.these schools and the rigourous curriculum has bred numerous Olympic stars. But what is the cost of gold? What do you think of the way the Chinese train their athletes?

WNT: Squad announced for Four Nations Tournament

Jan. 11, 2008 – The US Women’s National team will return to China for their first competition under head coach Pia Sundhage and their seventh appearance in the annual Four Nations Tournament. The Americans will play Canada, Finland, and China at the round-robin competition, which runs Jan. 16-20 in Foshan, China.

The squad includes most of the starters from last year’s World Cup except Kristine Lilly, who announced her pregnancy earlier this week. There is also room for four uncapped players who will be hoping to earn a place in the Olympic squad: defender Becky Sauerbrunn (Virginia) and midfielders Tina DiMartino (UCLA), Tobin Heath (North Carolina), and Ali Krieger (Penn State).

The Four Nations matches will be the first of 2008 for the U.S. women and first under Sundhage, who was hired in November.

U.S. women’s national soccer team opens ‘08 against Canada

Dec. 31, 2007  - The United States women’s national team opens its 2008 schedule on Jan. 16 against Canada at the Four Nations Tournament in China. The United States, ranked second in the world, also plays Finland on Jan. 18 and China on Jan. 20 in the four-team competition in Foshan, China.

Pia Sundhage will make her coaching debut for the U.S. in the match against Canada.

The United States will be making its ninth trip to China since 1998 and the tournament serves as continuing preparation for the 2008 Olympics, which are in China. The U.S.  has played in the Four Nations seven times, winning six of those tournaments.

Sundhage has called 16 members of the United States’ 2007 World Cup team for a training camp in early January, including recent U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year winner Abby Wambach.

Defenders Kate Markgraf and Heather Mitts, and midfielder Aly Wagner will not train with the team due to injuries. Veteran Kristine Lilly has not decided if she will pursue a spot on the Olympic roster.

Sundhage also invited 11 more players to the training camp, but only 20 will make the roster for the Four Nations Tournament. Among those invited was 2007 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year Lauren Cheney.

The United States starts qualifying for the Olympics on April 2-13 in Mexico.

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007

Sept. 10-30 2007 – The fifth edition of FIFA’s Women’s World Cup returned to the country where it first began – China. For two weeks in September, the finest women’s soccer players in the world descended on five Chinese cities to showcase their skills and stake claim at the sport’s biggest prize. Defending champion Germany, two-time champion United States, 1995 titlest Norway and perennial contenders China were dubbed as the teams to beat at the event.

Where: Five stadiums across China ranging in capacity from 34,000 to 60,000: Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and Wuhan.
When: Sept 11 through Sept. 30. 2007
Who: 16 women’s national teams.
Format: The teams are divided into four first-round groups, with the top two in each advancing to a single-elimination quarterfinal bracket.