Nighttime PSL action set for Moscow on Saturday
Jan 29, 2021·Alpine Snowboard
The 2020/21 FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup keeps marching right along this weekend in Moscow (RUS), where nighttime parallel slalom action is set to take to the unique part scaffold, part earthworks competition slope located just outside the city centre of the Russian capital on Saturday, with qualifications beginning at 15:00 local time (15:00 CET), followed by finals at 19:00 local (17:00 CET).
Nadyrshina looking to continue breakout season with strong home-field performance
With only one PSL competition completed so far in the season it’s a little too early to start talking about favourites for the 2020/21 crystal globe. However, the name currently sitting atop the women’s standings should be an exciting one for the host Russian fans, as 17 year-old rising star Sofia Nadyrshina comes into Moscow hot after earning her first career World Cup PSL victory a little over two weeks ago in Bad Gastein (AUT).
That Nadyrshina’s first career PSL victory came just a few days after her first career PGS victory in Scuol (SUI) is an extremely positive development for the Russian team, and with those two wins the young rider currently sits first as well on the parallel overall rankings after four competitions so far this season.
Second and third at the PSL season-opener in Bad Gastein - and thus second and third behind Nadyrshina on the women’s PSL rankings - are a pair of German riders in Cheyenne Loch and Selina Joerg. While neither of those riders has been able to hit the Moscow podium at any of the past events - with Joerg’s best result a fourth back in 2012/13 and Loch’s a 16th place finish in 2018/19 - both riders looked strong in Bad Gastein and should be in the mix Saturday in Moscow.
Other’s to watch out for include two-time reigning PSL crystal globe winner Julie Zogg (SUI), who finished fourth in Bad Gastein this season and has three previous podiums in Moscow to her credit (including the victory in 2018/19), as well as Zogg’s teammate Patrizia Kummer, who also has three previous podiums in Moscow.
Along with Nadyrshina, Russia will be well-represented by Anastasia Kurochkina, who finished on the podium in third last time we were in Moscow in 2018/19, while the likes of 2014/15 Moscow winner Claudia Reigler (AUT) and reigning parallel overall crystal globe winner Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) could also factor in on the podium battle on Saturday.
March leads men’s PSL rankings, but Russia has four riders in the top-6
For the men, it’s Italy’s Aaron March coming into the Moscow competition tops on the PSL rankings after his win in Bad Gastein, and the 34 year-old was actually the winner at the very first Moscow PSL World Cup way back in 2009/10. The 2016/17 PSL crystal globe winner, March looks to be in good form to start the season and could be tough to catch in Moscow.
However, it’s probably important to point out that March’s win in bad Gastein came as a result of a DNF for Russia’s Dmitry Loginov, who actually crossed the finished line in the big final just ahead of March, but was ruled to have improperly passed a gate earlier in his run. Despite the disappointment at being dropped to second place after initially believing he had what would have been the second PSL win of his World Cup career, Loginov showed exceptional riding throughout the Bad Gastein competition and could be the top contender to continue Russia’s winning streak in Moscow on the men’s side.
Loginov lead a squadron of four Russian riders to finish in the top-6 in Bad Gastein, including Andrey Sobolev, - winner at the 2018/19 Moscow PSL. While Sobolev has struggled somewhat so far in 2020/21, a return to the site of his last PSL win might be just what he needs to get things on track this season. Igor Sluev and and Dmitry Sarsambaev were the other top Russian riders in Bad Gastein, giving the host nation plenty of strong contenders to do well in Saturday’s competition. Dare we say that a Russian sweep would not be a complete surprise this weekend.
Other likely top contenders on the men’s side include last season PSL crystal globe winner Andreas Prommegger (AUT), Prommegger’s Austrian teammate Benjamin Karl, who has three career podiums in Moscow, and last season’s parallel overall crystal globe winner Roland Fischnaller, who has a record six podiums in Moscow (including three victories).
The best way to know how it’ll all pan out on Saturday is to watch the competition live, and for that we’ve got your FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup Moscow PSL information for you right here…
WATCH LIVE:
FIS Snowboard YouTube livestream (with geo-restrictions), Eurosport Player Europe, Eurosport Player Asia, ORF Sport+, BNT 3, CBC Streaming, CT Sport Streaming, L’Equipe Web, Olympic Channel
QUICK LINKS:
Moscow data page (start list, live timing, results)
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