World Finals Watch: Richardson and Fielder Capitalize in Australia to Tighten Bubble Race
By: Justin Felisko
LAS VEGAS – The race to qualify for the 2019 PBR World Finals has gotten that much tighter following the PBR Australia Monster Energy Wodonga Invitational Saturday.
Cliff Richardson and Brady Fielder both turned down invitations to compete at the 2019 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals this weekend and instead hoped to use their home country’s tour to qualify for the World Finals.
Now the two riders on the World Finals bubble will wait and see if that decision turns out to work in their favor following the Velocity Tour Finals on Saturday and Sunday at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa.
Fans can watch the Velocity Tour Finals live on RidePass at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday and 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Fielder helped his case slightly Saturday in Australia, going 1-for-3 in Wodonga. The 19-year-old bounced back from a frustrating 7.16-second buckoff against Spring Fling in Round 1 to ride Coors Light for 83.5 points in Round 2. Wild Paint later bucked him off in 5.10 seconds in the championship round.
The Clermont, Australia, cowboy picked up 15 world points to move up one spot in the world standings. The No. 33-ranked rider leads No. 38 Scottie Knapp by 165 points in the world standings.
Knapp heads into the Velocity Tour Finals holding the last qualification spot for the World Finals because No. 17 Aaron Kleier (ineligible due to personal choice to compete in Australia after being seeded on the Unleash The Beast), No. 24 Silvano Alves (ruptured kidney) and No. 35 Cannon Cravens (broken leg) are not competing in Las Vegas.
No. 41 Ramon de Lima is the highest-ranked rider outside of the World Finals picture competing at the Velocity Tour Finals. He is 221.67 points behind Fielder.
Fielder has won three of his past seven PBR Australia events after making his North American debut this summer in Canada and at Last Cowboy Standing at Cheyenne Frontier Days. He has earned world points in six of his last seven events.
The 2019 Team Australia Global Cup rider leads PBR Australia with six event wins this year and is 29-for-45 (64.44%) in 21 events.
Meanwhile, Richardson, who is not competing at the Velocity Tour Finals because of the recent passing of his grandmother, will really be keeping a keen eye on the standings.
Richardson went a perfect 3-for-3 to finish second in Wodonga for 90 world points, pushing him to No. 36 in the standings. He rode Twisted T (80.25 points), Bad Apple (84.75 points) and On Point (87 points) to finish runner-up to Australian Pro Rodeo Association champion Will Purcell.
The 28-year-old Richardson has been on an absolute tear to possibly qualify for his first PBR World Finals. Richardson has ridden seven consecutive bulls in Australia and 11 of his past 13. At the beginning of his streak on Aug. 17, Richardson was ranked No. 46 in the world standings.
Now he will wait and see if his slim lead in the standings holds up. He leads Knapp by 80 points and Lima by 136.67 points.
Professional Bull Riders – Monster Energy Wodonga Invitational
Wodonga VIC, 2019
Event Results (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Will Purcell, 83.75-83.5-87.75-255.00-170 Points.
2. Cliff Richardson, 80.25-84.75-87-252.00-90 Points.
3. Aaron Kleier, 83.5-0-85.75-169.25-55 Points.
4. Lachlan Richardson, 83.75-85.25-0-169.00-20 Points.
5. Brady Fielder, 0-83.5-0-83.50-15 Points.
6. Troy Wilkinson, 0-81.75-0-81.75-10 Points.
7. Justin Robards, 80.25-0-0-80.25-5 Points.
Nathan Burtenshaw, 0-0-0-0.00
Lachlan Slade, 0-0-0-0.00
Fraser Babbington, 0-0-0-0.00
Budd Williamson, 0-0-0-0.00
Sam Woodard, 0-0-0-0.00
Bailey Woodard, 0-0-0-0.00
Brody Woodard, 0-0-0-0.00
Cameron McLennan, 0-0-0-0.00
Wayne Crisp, 0-0-0-0.00
Sam Daly, 0-0-0-0.00
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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