Submitted
In front of an electric crowd at Qudos Bank Arena, Team Canada used a 6-for-9 performance Sunday evening to conclude the second leg of the inaugural PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Global Cup in Sydney, Australia.
After concluding the first night of the event, the nation’s stellar performance in the final rounds allowed them to jump Team USA in the standings. Following a hard fought battle, Team Canada trailed second place Team Australia by 19 points, and event winner Team Brazil by 19.75 points in the final standings.
The eight-man team was led by Tanner Byrne (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan).
After a perfect start to the global event on Saturday, Byrne returned equally as hot on the final day of competition, first making the 8 aboard Light Em Up (Throsby & Russell Bucking Bulls) for 82.5 points in Round 2, which he followed with an 86-point trip on SweetPro’s Fully Locked & Loaded (Dittmann Bucking Bulls) in the Bonus Round.
Finishing second in the individual aggregate race, Byrne contributed 331.5 points to Canada’s overall 986.75-point total in the team aggregate.
In his Global Cup debut, Jared Parsonage (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan) was the nation’s next best performer, going 3-for-3 down under. On Sunday he added on 80.5-point trip on 5th Battalion (Dunne Bulls) to his overall aggregated, concluding his first event in Australia with 231.25 points.
Brock Radford (De Winton, Alberta) connected with Cookies n Cream (Dan Klabe) for 86 points Sunday night to notch one of Canada’s top scores of the event. The qualified ride, his second in as many outs at the event, brought Radford’s cumulative contribution to Team Canada to 166 points.
After he was unable to make the whistle Saturday, world No. 13 Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) returned to his winning ways in Round 2, marked 83.5 points on Red Man (Throsby & Russell Bucking Bulls)
Justin Lloyd (Tisdale, Saskatchewan), the nation’s alternate, stepped in during the final round after Wacey Finkbeiner (Ponoka, Alberta) was injured in Round 1. The 30-year-old seized the opportunity, making the 8 aboard Gravel Rash (Dan Klabe) for 81.25 points.
Ponoka’s Zane Lambert was able to land two of the four rides he competed in. Lambert scored 82.25 in his first and last rides and ended in the 29th spot overall.
Collectively Team Canada earned a check for $65,000.
In the race for the event win, the second leg of the inaugural PBR Global Cup in Sydney concluded in dramatic fashion, coming down to the last out as Team Brazil clinched a narrow 0.75-point victory to claim the Australian horn of the Global Cup trophy filled with the host nation’s soil, and $400,000.