World Cup travels to Thaiwoo for back-to-back competitions
Dec 13, 2019·Freestyle
After an exciting start to the 2019/2010 moguls season in Ruka last week, the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup will be back in action again this upcoming weekend with back-to-back single and dual moguls competitions slated to go down at Thaiwoo Ski Resort on December 14-15.
With World Cup competitions already taking place in Thaiwoo dating back to the 2016/17 season when the resort hosted the first moguls World Cup competition, the venue and organizers have proven themselves up to the task of delivering a world-class show. This year it will be the fourth consecutive time that the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup tour will visit the Chinese resort.
In the ladies’ competition the one to watch is no doubt last season’s moguls World Cup winner Perrine Laffont (FRA), who is coming off a hot start to the new season with a first-place finish in Ruka (FIN). The 21-year-old skier looked especially sharp this past weekend, showing flawless technique and impressing on the jumps with her d-spin at the bottom air.
Apart from Laffont, also to watch out for are Yulia Galysheva (KAZ), Jaelin Kauf (USA) and Brittney Cox (AUS), who have all claimed victories in Thaiwoo in previous seasons, as well as Jakara Anthony (AUS) and Justine Dufour-Lapointe, both of whom made it into the top-6 at the season’s opener in Ruka.
Then let’s not forget about Anri Kawamura of Japan, who celebrated her World Cup debut last week in Ruka with an unexpected second-place finish. The 15-year-old Kawamura amazed not only the fans that gathered around the course in Ruka, but the majority of her fellow competitors as well. It’s rare that a skier jumps onto the moguls World Cup and immediately onto the podium - especially at Kawamura’s age - and should she be able to perform anything like she did last weekend in Ruka we could be looking at the emergence of a special athlete, indeed.
Over one the men’s side of the event Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury will be looking to continue his dominance in Thaiwoo, after winning all six previous competitions here and once again entering the competition in China while leading the moguls World Cup standing.
To maintain his claim on the top of the mountain in 2019, Kingsbury will have to battle against his biggest rivals Ikuma Horishima (JPN), Dmitriy Reikherd (KAZ), Ben Cavet (FRA), Matt Graham (AUS) or Walter Wallberg (SWE).
Also count on Ludvig Fjallstrom (SWE) and Kerrian Chunlaud (CAN) to put in strong performances, as both skiers showed an impressive start to the new season in Ruka and will be looking for another positive result in Thaiwoo.
The single moguls competition will take place on Saturday, December 14, with the final round slated to go down at 13:30 LOC. The dual moguls competition will follow up on Sunday, December 15 also starting at 13:30 LOC.
WATCH LIVE
Eurosport player (Europe), L’Equipe (France), YLE (Finland), Kazsport (Kazakhstan), Polsat Sport News (Poland), NBC Sports Gold (USA).
Live streaming will be also available on our Youtube channel (MOGULS / DUAL MOGULS). Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming may not be available in your region. Full list of countries with the live streaming will is available HERE.
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