Titanium-tough Luke Snyder completed the perfect comeback from a broken neck, by riding three monstrous Aussie bovines to take out the 2010 Professional Bull Riders World Challenge Final at Sydney’s Acer Arena.
The third and final stop in the three-event 2010 PBR World Challenge Series, Saturday's show packed more than 8500 screaming bull riding fans into Sydney’s premier entertainment venue for a night of thrills, spills and bull busting skills.
For twenty-seven-year-old Snyder from Raymour, Missouri in the USA, Saturday's victory was a fairytale finish to his eighth trip down-under, and proof that he is well and truly recovered from the neck injury that could so easily have ended his riding career. Snyder rode three bulls from three attempts here in Sydney, starting with an 86-pointer on Ron Woodall’s Mood Swings, followed by 85 on Gary McPhee’s Copy Wright and concluding in the championship round with 82.5 points on Ron Woodall’s Look A Like.
“This is why I love to play this game – it has its ups and downs,” an excited Snyder exclaimed in his post event interview. “This win really helps after having three months out with the neck injury.”
Fellow American Skeeter Kingsolver wrapped up the 2010 PBR World Challenge Series with three solid rides in Saturday's final, to go along with strong performances in the previous two rounds in Townsville and Brisbane. Kingsolver finished the series with 587.5 points, to win the series ahead of Australian crowd favourite Ben Jones on 582.5 points and US rider Ned Cross on 510.5. Skeeter Kingsolver rode through the pain barrier in the championship round to clinch series victory, having his leg stood on by a bull following his second ride of the night.
“The ankle is fine now – everything is better when you win,” the young Kansas bull rider enthused. “I just hope I can carry this form back home to the US and keep it going for the rest of the year.”
Goulburn’s Ben Jones kept the crowd on its feet with his three gutsy rides and his over-the-top celebrations. The New South Welshman is known across the planet for his famous chicken dance and didn’t let the fans down on Saturday, busting out the crazy moves despite falling agonizingly short of a series victory.
Veteran stock contractors JP Gill and Sons from The Rock, NSW took home the prize buckle for 2010 PBR World Challenge Final Champion Bucking Bull for the ferocious effort of their beast, Buck Owens. The big brown and white bull made incredibly short work of Uralla’s Chris Lowe, before flipping the young cowboy in the air with his horn for good measure!
With $150,000 won and almost 25,000 fans attending across three action-packed weekends, the 2010 Professional Bull Riders World Challenge Series has been a tremendous success and augurs well for the burgeoning future of the sport in Australia.
2010 PBR World Challenge Final Event Results:
- Luke Snyder, Missouri, USA 253.5
- Ben Jones, Goulburn, NSW 247.0
- Skeeter Kingsolver, Kansas, USA 245.5
- McKennon Wimberly, Texas, USA 174.0
- Chance Roberts, Illinois, USA 171.5
2010 PBR World Challenge Final Champion: Luke Snyder, Missouri, USA
2010 PBR World Challenge Series Champion: Skeeter Kingsolver, Kansas, USA
2010 PBR World Challenge Final Champion Bucking Bull: Buck Owens, JP Gill & Sons
2010 PBR World Challenge Series Results:
- Skeeter Kingsolver Kansas, USA 587.5
- Ben Jones Goulburn, NSW 582.5
- Ned Cross Oregon, USA 510.5
- Luke Snyder Missouri, USA 428.5
- Cody Campbell Oregon, USA 420.0
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ABOUT PBR AUSTRALIA
Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) was founded in 1992 by 20 accomplished bull riders who decided to develop bull riding – the most popular event in traditional rodeo – into a stand-alone sport. Today more than 1,200 bull riders hold PBR memberships and compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions around the globe for a total prize pool exceeding US$13 million. In November 2005, PBR announced their plans for worldwide expansion. Since then, PBR has opened offices in Canada, Mexico, Australia and Brazil and is rolling out major live events in key cities in each of these countries. PBR Australia is a partnership between the PBR and Dainty Consolidated Entertainment (one of Australia’s major concert promoters) and will stage major bull riding events in key cities in Australia and New Zealand – kicking off with the inaugural PBR World Cup on the Gold Coast in 2007. Due to the high demand for more bull riding across Australia, PBR has now established the PBR Challenger Series as a feeder into the Australian premier league of bull riding – the Bundaberg Rum PBR Touring Pro. Prize money won at these events counts toward qualification to PBR Cup Events in Australia and to the annual PBR World Finals in Las Vegas. So the Professional Bull Riders offer a genuine pathway for Australian bull riders to earn substantial prize money in Australia and to compete on the world stage.
