Scuol ready to host first snowboard alpine event in 2021
Jan 08, 2021·Alpine Snowboard
The FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup is set to return to action after the holiday break with parallel giant slalom competition scheduled to go down on Saturday, January 9 in Scuol (SUI).
After two successful World Cup races went down in Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo and Carezza, and we saw exciting three days of racing at the 2020 FIS Junior World Snowboard Championships in Lachtal (AUT), the first parallel event of 2021 will be taking to the Scoul’s slopes located in the beautiful region of Engadin.
Known as the “Home of Hardbooters” and the home resort of reigning PyeongChang 2018 Olympic gold medallist and 2017/18 parallel overall crystal globe winner Nevin Galmarini, Scuol’s first turn as World Cup host came in the form of highly entertaining competitions three season ago, and again this year Scuol is ready to welcome over 100 athletes to compete in the third PGS race of the 2020/21 season.
As with all FIS World Cup events this season, stringent testing and safety protocols will be in place in Scuol in order to successfully navigate the challenges presented by the covid-19 pandemic. And, despite the lack of fans on site, we’re confident that the best women and men of snowboard carving will once again put up an extraordinary show on the Ftaner slope in the Motta Naluns ski area.
Entering Saturday’s competition on top of the corresponding women’s and men’s parallel giant slalom standings will be Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) and Benjamin Karl (AUT) with both athletes holding on to 160 points after two competitions so far in the season.
Reigning World Cup parallel overall crystal globe winner Hofmeister started the season with a third place finish in Cortina, where she lost her semi-final battle to eventual winner Ester Ledecka (CZE). Hofmeister, however, returned to the top of the podium in the very next race in Carezza, where she stormed to her 11th World Cup victory after besting Ladina Jenny (SUI) in the big final.
As for the Austrian veteran Karl, he also started the season in third place, after he spoiled the Italian sweep by edging out Marko Felicetti in the small final in Cortina. Then in Carezza, he stepped things up and took the top spot in all-Austrian final against his teammate Andreas Prommegger to jump into the lead in the PGS World Cup ranking.
Apart from afore-mentioned Hofmeister and Karl, there are a couple of names worth keeping an eye for this upcoming Saturday.
In the women’s event obviously watch out for Ladina Jenny, who is coming straight off a second place finish and sits in third place in the PGS standing right now, as well as Selina Joerg (GER), the current number two who has two top-3 finishes this season and sits just 20 points behind Hofmeister on the standings.
Going further down the starting list also expect strong showings from the likes of Julie Zogg (SUI), Cheyenne Loch (GER), Caroline Langenhorst (GER) and Sofia Nadyrshina (RUS), with the latest coming straight off a triple victory at the JWSC in Lachtal.
Over on the men’s side of the competition, Roland Fischnaller (ITA) and Andreas Prommegger (AUT) sit just behind Karl in second and third place, respectively, in the men’s PGS standings, and without a doubt both veterans will be pushing for the win in Scuol this weekend.
The Italian squad currently has five athletes in the PGS top-10, including Aaron March, Daniele Bagozza, Edwin Coratti and Mirko Felicetti and Roland Fischnaller. And while the Italians recent attempt to sweep the podium on home soil in Cortina was spoiled by Karl, looking at their current form, we wouldn’t be surprise to see some of those names above pushing for the podium on Saturday.
Also let’s not forget about the Russian Snowboard Team, which has an impressive record in Scuol, led by Andrey Sobolev, who won back-to-back races here in 2019 and 2020. As well, the Russians also have a triple golf medallist from the JWSC in Lachtal on the men’s side, and Dmitriy Loginov will be looking to ride that momentum to a repeat performance from his 2019 second-place podium in Scuol.
Last, but not least, the Swiss fans will be putting plenty of hopes in the likes of Dario Caviezel and Nevin Galmarini, who finished in the respective sixth and seventh place in Carezza, and now extra-motivated while on home soil they will be obviously trying to break into top-3 on Saturday.
The competition is Scuol is set to get underway with the qualification rounds beginning at 10:00 CET, and finals following up immediately after that at 14:15.
WHERE TO WATCH
Live TV/streaming in Austria (ORF+), LIVE streaming in USA (peacock), live streaming/delayed TV on Eurosport player and Eurosport 2, live TV/streaming in Switzerland (swisscom blue Sport)
*Please note that the above information represents broadcast intentions and may be subject to change.
QUICK LINKS:
Scuol World Cup data page (startlists, live timing, results)
