The February Open and Women’s ranking lists show that the freestylers who competed at Jamie Chantiles’ random pairs event in San Diego were the first to benefit from the bigger ranking point scales introduced for 2004.
Though this tournament was too small to help top 30 players Dave Lewis, Joel Rogers and Chantiles, the rest of the field cleaned up.
Peter Laubert used his runner-up finish to jump back into the Top 40. He moves to number 38 from 46. Tom Gleason, fourth place finisher, added enough points to his total to rise seven spots to number 84. And Ami Lewis makes her rankings debut at 229 on the open list and 52 on the women’s list.
The San Diego round robin tournament is a perfect example of the kind of low-key local tournament that can make freestyle even stronger. Already the FPA schedule is showing an increase in the number of events being planned all around the world. Don’t be left out. Get together with your friends. Have a fun competition.
The bonus in 2004 is that the players can now receive more points for participating than ever before. Tom Gleason, Jamie Chantiles and Ami Lewis all received ten more ranking points for the San Diego tournament than they would have if the same event happened in December.