Thursday, April 30, 2009

BWI: KIA X Games Asia Kicks Off to Winning Start

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: ESPN STAR Sports
Thursday, April 30, 2009 06:34 PM IST (01:04 PM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Entertainment, People, Sports; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Media & entertainment, Sports
Release no: 19842
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KIA X Games Asia Kicks Off to Winning Start
Yasutoko Brothers, Andy Macdonald and Kevin Robinson to Thrill Shanghai Fans at Asia's Biggest Action Sports Competition

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, April 30, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- KIA X Games Asia, the number one action sports competition in Asia, looks certain to start off on a winning note with another impressive line up of world class athletes for the third consecutive year, as the KIC Jiangwan Sports Center opened its gates to enthusiastic crowds today.

This year's event will see the return of renown athletes Andy Macdonald, the current KIA X Games Skateboard Vert defending champion, who shares the honor of having the most number of X Games skateboard medals; Kevin Robinson, X Games 14's Athlete of the Games, and the Yasutoko brothers

"We are excited to be back in China, and thrilled by the enthusiasm of Shanghai and the high level of competition we will be treated to from this world-class field of athletes," said Harvey Davis, ESPN STAR Sports Vice-President, Events Management Group. "The standard is set higher every year, and we look forward to giving fans another exhilarating event, as we continue our commitment to serve action sports fans across the region."

The first day of the KIA X Games Asia kicked off with the exciting finals of the BMX Freestyle Vert and Women's Speed Climbing, along with the Skateboard Street Preliminary round on a spanking new street course.

Australian Tim Wood stood head above shoulders over a diverse list of international riders from the United States, United Kingdom and the Asia-Pacific region, taking top spot at the BMX Freestyle Vert podium. It was sweet victory for last year's bronze medallist, as he overcame a tough fall on his first run with a brilliant performance in the second run to clinch the gold, while earning the respect from his fellow competitors. Simon Tabron of the United Kingdom won the silver medal while Australian Steve McCann rounded out the podium with the bronze.

In the Women's Speed Climbing event, representatives from Eastern Europe dominated the field and swept the competition. The nail-biting final was won by a split second lunge by Russian climber Valentina Yurina, edging out Ukrane's Olena Ryepko to take home her first KIA X Games Asia gold medal. Yurina's fellow Russian teammate, Anna Stenkovaya took home the bronze.

The KIA X Games Asia 2009 will showcase more than 200 of Asia's and the world's best action sport athletes from more than 20 countries and five continents as they compete in BMX freestyle, Aggressive In-line Skating, Skateboarding and Sport Climbing. In addition to the competitive events, Shanghai, China will also enjoy Freestyle Moto X demonstrations by some of the world's best riders.

The KIA X Games Asia will be televised live from Shanghai's KIC Jiangwan Stadium on April 30 - May 3, 2009 on ESPN networks across Asia.

Broadcast Details

KIA X Games Asia

The X Games Asia was first held in 1998 in Phuket, Thailand and continued to draw enthusiastic crowds until 2001. From 2002-2004, the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur was home to the Asian X Games. In 2005, the event was hosted in Seoul, Korea before returning to Kuala Lumpur again in 2006. The KIA X Games Asia has held in Shanghai in 2007 and 2008.

ESPN first developed its X Games franchise in 1995. As part of ESPN Content Development, the X Games, Winter X Games and All Access are just some of the original action sports programming currently shown on ESPN. In addition to the two U.S.-based events, ESPN has held X Games competitions and demonstration events around the world, including Dubai, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Malaysia, China and Spain. The global franchise has also expanded its reach to EXPN.com, the definitive site for action sports fans, and to consumer products such as X Games bikes, protective gear, skateboards and DVDs.

Considered the pinnacle of global action sports competition, the KIA X Games Asia 2009 will be televised live from April 30 to May 3, 2009 from the KIC Jiangwan Sports Center, Yang Pu District. Visit the official websites www.Kiaxgamesasia.com, www.espnstar.com.cn, and www.sports.sina.com.cn/z/09xgamesasia for more information.

Sponsors and Partners

The KIA X Games Asia 2009 enjoys sponsorship support from Title Sponsor Kia Motors Corporation, Pony (Silver Sponsor), Mountain Dew (Silver Sponsor), Doritos (Official Snack Sponsor), Cold Stone (Official Supplier). It is also supported by Crowne Plaza Fudan Shanghai (Official Hotel), and East Ticket (Ticketing Agent) and LV Mama (Special Online Ticketing).

The event is also supported by various media partners such as Bingtuan TV and International Channel Shanghai (TV Media Partner), Shanghai Daily (English Newspaper Partner), SCHON (Print Media Partner), City Weekend (Print Media Partner), Oriental Sky (Print Media Partner), Elite Traveller (Print Media Partner), 1626 (Print Media Partner), Oriental Sports Daily (Print Media Partner), Metro Express (Print Media Partner), TouchMedia (Outdoor Media Partner), I-Mocha (Mobile Media Partner).

The event is proudly sanctioned by the Chinese Extreme Sports Association and is organized by ESPN STAR Sports, the Shanghai Media Group and the Shanghai Sports Federation. The Shanghai Yang Pu District Government is the event's Special Organizer and the Shanghai Sports Competition Management Centre is the Co-Organizer while the Shanghai Extreme Sports Association is the Supporting Organiser. The KIC Jiangwan Sports Center is the Official Venue, and the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung is a special supporting organisation to this year's event. Other partners include Star Light (Music Partner), Linktune (Music Partner), Bar Hulu (Official Bar), and Sina.com.cn (Special Streaming Partner).

ESPN STAR Sports

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world's leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies - Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) - to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services.

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN SEA, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN SEA 2, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports SEA, STAR Sports SEA 2, STAR Sports Taiwan, and STAR Cricket.

On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN and STAR Sports Mobile delivers differentiated mobile content targeted at its various audiences. mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis. STAR Sports Mobile aims to provide interactive and entertaining opportunities to engage with sports, delivering exclusive video excerpts from leading football clubs Arsenal and Liverpool as well as highlights from STAR Sports original programmes covering opinions, instructional tips and the latest online game reviews.

To view the photograph, please click on the link given below:

Tim Wood (BMX Vert Champion 2009)
For picture(s)/data to illustrate this release click below:

http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/Broadcast details.doc
Broadcast details.doc
http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/Tim Wood (BMX Vert Champion 2009).JPG
Tim Wood (BMX Vert Champion 2009).JPG


CONTACT DETAILS
Sameer Bajaj, Sr. Manager - Corporate Communications, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd, +91 9811222700, sameerb@espnstar.co.in
Aparna Srivastava, IPAN, +91 9811234594, aparna.srivastava@ipan.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENTERTAINMENT, PEOPLE, SPORTS, MARKETING, MEDIA

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