Team Canada Defends Home Soil, Leads PBR Global Cup After First Night

EDMONTON, Alberta – On the opening night of the inaugural PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Global Cup, presented by Encor by EPCOR, Team Canada defended its home soil inside Rogers Place with six qualified rides to surge to the top of the leaderboard.

The home team began the night in electric fashion, covering the first two bulls when Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) and Ty Patten (Strathmore, Alberta) earned qualified rides.

Buttar’s 84.25-point trip came atop Big Shot, while Patten was 81.5 points on Broken Trigger. Both bovine athletes are from Kinsella, Alberta’s Skori Bucking Bulls.

Justin Lloyd (Tisdale, Saskatchewan) led the Canadian contingent with 85.75 points aboard Click Clackin (Braithwaite Ranches), followed closely by 2017 PBR Canada Rookie of the Year Coy Robbins (Camrose, Alberta), who made the 8 on Plenty Cool (Flying High Rodeo Co.) for 85.25 points.

Two-time and reigning PBR Canada Champion Zane Lambert (Westbourne, Manitoba) and 2017 Monster Energy Team Canada Qualifier event winner Lonnie West (Cadogan, Alberta) were the remaining two Canadians to log qualified rides.

Team Canada collectively earned 501.5 points, leading Team USA, currently second in the event, by 76.25 points in the aggregate.

The American roster was led by Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington) and Stormy Wing (Dalhart, Texas). Both earned round wins as the victors in Round 1 and Bonus Round, respectively.

Wing once again made the eight aboard Red Bandana (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Staci Wilks/N Bar Ranch/Chase Bass) after having covered the bull for 90.25 points to win Round 5 of the 2017 Built Ford Tough World Finals just five days earlier.

The duo’s north-of-the-border showdown once again brought a round win to the Texan. This time after they combined for a score of 88.25 points, propelling Wing to the top of the Bonus Round.

Kolbaba scored 86.5 points on Stars & Stripes (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve), tying Team Australia’s Lachlan Richardson (Gresford, NSW, Australia) for the victory in the opening round. The Aussie’s successful ride came on Darkness (Vold Rodeo/Prescott).

Richardson and Wing were the only two riders to cover both of their bulls on the first night of the two-day, Edmonton Global Cup event.

Selected by Coach Adriano Moraes to ride in the Bonus Round, 25-year-old Richardson finished his perfect night with 87.75 points on Catfish John (Dakota Rodeo - Chad Berger / Clay Struve / Miller). Wing’s flawless performance started in Round 1 after he covered Finning Rat Trap (Flying Four Bucking Bulls) for 82.5 points.

Collectively, Team USA earned 425.25 points in the aggregate from five qualified rides after Brennon Eldred (Sulphur, Oklahoma) and Cole Melancon (Liberty, Texas) also put points on the scoreboard.

Team Brazil sits third in the team-style event, with 416.75 points from five qualified rides earned by 2017 Rookie of the Year Jose Vitor Leme (Ribasdo Rio Pardo, Brazil), Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelândia, Brazil), 2013 Rookie of the Year Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil), 2011 Rookie of the Year Rubens Barbosa (Iaciara, Brazil), and 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi (Três Lagoas, Brazil).

Going into Saturday’s final round, Team Brazil is 8.5 points behind Team USA and 84.75 points behind event leader Team Canada.

Backed by Richardson’s two rides, Team Australia currently sits fourth after two additional riders, Cliff Richardson (Gresford, NSW, Australia) and Kurt Shephard (Atherton, Queensland, Australia), combined with the 25-year-old to give the team 344.75 points in the aggregate.

Preventing the team from being shut-out, Edgar Durazo (Moctezuma, Mexico) made 8 seconds during Mexico’s final out of the night, covering South Texas Gangster (Chad Berger/Julie Rosen/Clay Struve/Silent Seven) for 86.75 points in the Bonus Round.

The inaugural PBR Global Cup event concludes Saturday, Nov. 11 with the action-packed evening beginning at 7 p.m. MT with a performance from award-winning country music artist Jake Owen.

Each rider from the five nations will once again get on one bull each, followed by the Bonus Round where the team’s coach will select two riders who will attempt the nation’s final two draws of the Global Cup.

At the conclusion of the event, the nation with the highest score in the aggregate from their Top 14 qualified rides will be crowned the victors of the Edmonton Global Cup earning international bull riding bragging rights, $400,000, and the Canadian horn from the Global Cup trophy filled with native soil.

TSN-3 will broadcast Saturday’s action LIVE starting at 8 p.m. MT, while fans around the globe can tune in for all the action live on the free PBR app and PBR.com beginning at 8 p.m. MT.

 

2017 Professional Bull Riders Global Cup, presented by Encor by EPCOR

Rogers Place – Edmonton, Alberta

(Rides – Outs – Event Aggregate)

1. Team Canada, 6-16-501.5
2. Team USA, 5-9-425.25
3. Team Brazil, 5-9-416.75
4. Team Australia, 4-9-344.75
5. Team Mexico, 1-9-86.75