Germany’s Amelie Kober hugs the gates indoors at SnowWorld in Landgraaf, The Netherlands at Friday’s World Cup Snowboarding Parallel Slalom season opener. (photo: Oliver Kraus)

Landgraaf, The Netherlands - They have the same birthday — the 16th of November — but there are 14 years between them: Amelie Kober (GER) and Mathieu Bozzetto (FRA) have won the first parallel contest of the 2007/2008 NOKIA Snowboard FIS World Cup, held in Landgraaf on Friday.

At the only indoor event, held in SnowWorld Landgraaf, the German rider edged Heidi Neururer in the women’s final to defend her title earned last year on the 260 meter-long parallel slalom course. Local hero Nicolien Sauerbreij (NED) came in third ahead of Finland’s Ilona Ruotsalainen.

On the men’s side, Siegfried Grabner missed his third victory in a row. Austria’s top alpine snowboarder crossed the finish line only two hundreds of a second behind the triumphant veteran Bozzetto. In the battle for third, Marc Iselin (SUI) successfully competed against Zan Kosir (SLO) on the parallel course, which was flagged with 23 gates. Neither of the favored Swiss Shoch brothers made it through to the finals.

Kober was surprised by her repeat victory. “During the training sessions I was not so pleased with my riding,” the 19 year-old Olympic silver medalist said after the race. “In the beginning of the season, you never know how good you are. In addition, I have strong competitors in my own national team. But then, during the contest, a race dynamic developed and it went better and better. I’m happy that the season finally kicked off!”

Bozzetto was pleased with his off-season training choices. “After last winter, I was thinking of retiring. But during the summer, I was in such a good shape that I thought about trying it once more,” he said. “I did so much for the sport so I wanted to attack again on a new board brand. I’m so glad, that I decided like this.”

Bozzetto had bad memories from SnowWorld to overcome. “At the first race here in 2003 I crashed over the start gate with bib number one. So, this is a great redemption.”

Mueller leads U.S. squad

Erica Mueller (Steamboat Springs, CO) led U.S. Snowboarding with an eighth-place finish. Olympic bronze medalist Chris Klug (Aspen, CO) topped U.S. men with 11th. Two-time SnowWorld podium finisher Adam Smith (Bend, OR), who won the event to open the 2004 season, was 16th.

Mueller qualified 14th and then ousted the No. 3 qualifier Claudia Riegler of Austria in the first round. In the quarterfinal, she fell behind local rider Nicolien Sauerbreij early in the first dual and couldn’t make up the difference.

Both Klug and Smith were knocked out in the first dual. Smith fell behind Bozzetto, and Klug came up short against Slovenian Zan Kosir, who finished fourth.

Morison doesn’t start

Canadian rookie sensation Matt Morison did not compete due to injury. Caroline Calvé of Gatineau, Québec had her best-ever World Cup finish, taking home an impressive sixth place for the Canadian team, while team veteran Jasey-Jay Anderson of Mont Tremblant, Québec finished 10th.

“Caro (Calvé) had her best finish ever today,” said Canadian Alpine Assistant Coach, Sylvain Jean. “She’s really strong right now, and is looking really good for this season.”

The other Canadian female competing Friday was Alexa Loo of Richmond, BC who finished in 23rd spot in her first competition since being sidelined for the better part of last season with an injury.

For the men, Anderson was the top Canadian, followed by national team sophomore Michael Lambert of Toronto, who made it through to the top 32 and finished in 22nd. Oakville’s Pat Farrell narrowly missed the top 32, taking home 35th, and Adam McLeish of Senneville, QC finished 42nd.

“All the guys in this discipline are really strong, and it was a short flat course, so you couldn’t afford to make any mistakes,” continued Jean. “Jasey-Jay caught up in his second run in the finals, but it just wasn’t enough for him to move on.

“Our training during the off-season has been really promising, and all of the extra support from programs like Own the Podium are definitely helping us to go in the right direction. Caro and Pat (Farrell) are looking really good in training, and we’re looking forward to a promising season from them and everyone else on our team.”

Alpine snowboarding teams will now prepare for the first parallel giant slalom of the season slated for Oct. 20-21 on the Rettenbach Glacier above Soelden, Austria.

FIS Snowboarding World Cup
Landgraaf, NED – Oct. 12, 2007
Parallel Slalom

Men (top 16 qualify)
1. Matthiew Bozzetto, France
2. Siegfried Grabner, Austria
3. Marc Iselin, Switzerland
4. Zan Kosir, Slovenia

Women (top 16 qualify)
1. Amelie Kober, Germany
2. Heidi Neururer, Austria
3. Nicolien Sauerbreij, Netherlands
4. Ilona Ruotsalainen, Finland