Big night for host Russians in Moscow PSL World Cup
Jan 26, 2019·Alpine Snowboard
Moscow (RUS) - The first of two FIS Snowboard parallel slalom World Cup competitions to take to a remarkable venue in downtown Moscow (RUS) went down under the lights on Saturday evening, with Julie Zogg (SUI) claiming the win in the ladies’ race and Andrey Sobolev (RUS) thrilling the home Russian crowd with a win in the men’s competition.
Saturday’s competition was a return of World Cup action to Moscow for the first time in three years, and with a revamped venue, a solid crowd on hand, and a Russian winner in the men’s category, a highly-successful return it was.
While the course in Moscow is something of a sprint, with each run lasting somewhere just around 20-seconds, there was still no shortage of excitement and intrigue on Saturday evening in the Russian metropolis.
In the ladies’ race, Zogg just barely made it out of her eight-final heat against Gloria Kotnik (SLO), besting the Slovenia by just .03 seconds to move on. After besting last week’s winner Selena Joerg (GER) in the quarterfinal and Anastasia Kurochkina (RUS) in the semis, she would meet one of the most consistent riders on tour this year in Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT) in the finals
Neither rider gave an inch in the big final, matching each other turn for turn, but across the line it would be Zogg in the lead by .16 seconds for her second career World Cup win.
With the victory, Zogg moved into top spot on the parallel overall standings with 2,670 points, and into third place on the 2018/19 PSL standings. Schoeffmann, with her third podium of the season, moved up to just behind Zogg in second overall with 2,480 points.
In the small final it would be Kurochkina giving the host Russian’s the first of their three podiums on the evening by besting her teammate Maria Valova.
Sobolev wins men’s thriller on home soil
In the men’s competition, Sobolev’s trip to the big final took him through Alexander Payer (AUT), Bi Ye (CHN), and Arvid Auner (AUT) on the speedy Moscow track, before he met up with a young rider in the midst of a breakout season in Dario Caviezel (SUI).
In the lone PSL competition so far this year before Moscow, Caviezel claimed a runner-up in the Bad Gastein (AUT) in the individual event, as well as a third-place in the team event with his partner Patrizia Kummer, and on Saturday he once again looked to be in prime form.
However, on the second gate of the big final in Moscow he nearly lost an edge, losing precious ground on Sobolev in the process. Though Caviezel regained his line and set about reeling Sobolev in, the Russian would be able to stay ahead of the Swiss rider through the short duration of the Moscow course and claim his fifth career victory, and his first in over a year.
Meanwhile, in the small final, Russia would earn it’s third podium in what was the most successful turn ever in hosting a World Cup event in Moscow for the home squad, as Maxim Rogozin would best Arvid Auner in a battle of the young guns, giving Rogozin his first career World Cup podium.
Caviezel’s runner-up result moved him into top spot on the PSL World Cup leaderboard with 1,600 points, while Sobolev climbed into second place behind his Swiss competitor with 1,360 points.
On the parallel overall leaderboard, Nevin Galmarini (SUI) would finish tenth on the day to move him into a tie with Benjamin Karl (AUT) with 2,300 points.
From Moscow, the ladies and men of the FIS Snowboard alpine World Cup will be heading to the USA, for the Utah 2019 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle, and Freeski World Championships, where PGS action is slated for February 4, and PSL action on February 5.
QUICK LINKS
Podium highlight videos BIG FINAL / SMALL FINAL
Podium highlight videos BIG FINAL / SMALL FINAL
