Aerials World Cup ready to conclude at Shimao Lotus Mountain
Mar 01, 2019·Freestyle
The FIS Freestyle Ski aerials World Cup is set to wrap up this weekend with final two competitions of the 2018/19 season set to go down in China at Changchun Shimao Lotus Mountain Ski Resort. The individual competition is slated to go down on Saturday, while the aerials mixed team event is set for Sunday.
Initially scheduled to take place at the future Olympic site at Secret Garden, the season’s finals has been moved by the Chinese Ski Association to Jilin province, which has a long history of hosting the FIS Freestyle Ski events with the first World Cup competition in Changchun dating back to 2005.
Again this season Changchun will be the centre stage of the world’s best aerials action, with the season’s fourth and fifth competitions taking place just an hour away from the busy city centre for the fifth edition of World Cup event at Shimao Lotus Mountain Ski Resort.
Entering competition in China on top of the aerials World Cup rankings is the veteran and local hero Xu Mengtao, who is looking to lock down her third consecutive and fifth total aerials moguls World Cup crystal globe.
Xu is leading the rankings with 260 points after three competitions so far in the season, while second in the ranking Shao Qi (CHN) has 176 points and Xu Sicun is following in third with 159 points.
Xu finished on top of the podium last time the aerials World Cup was held in Changchun, and considering her current form it’s very likely that the Chinese veteran will be pushing for the win again this season. However, the battle for the crystal globe remains wide open, with the likes of Laura Peel (AUS) and the 2019 world champion Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya (BLR) also in the mix this weekend.
Though Xu’s advantage is fairly substantial heading into the finals in Changchun, aerials competition is oftentimes an unpredictable matter. It takes as much as one bad landing in the qualification round to spoil one’s dream of the podium spot, so we’re looking forward to see who will end the season on a high once competition wraps up in China on Sunday.
Over on the men’s side it’s Maxim Burov (RUS) who sits atop the World Cup ranking with 236 points, with his teammate Stanislav Nikitin following close behind in second with 220 points. Burov has two World Cup victories so far in the season as well as the Utah 2019 world championships gold medal. Nikitin, on the other hand, managed to finish on the podium in each of his three World Cup competitions in 2018/19, and once again this weekend we can count on the Russian duo to deliver a strong show while battling for the men’s aerials title.
Also, keep an eye on Wang Xindi, who is currently ranked third in the overall standings, as well as the veteran Anton Kushnir, with both athletes still theoretically in the running to upset the frontrunners and walk away with the globe.
While the race for the crystal globes will be on everyone’s mind this weekend, it’s the team event that will wrap up the 2018/19 season on Sunday. And looking back at some of the action from the world championships in Deer Valley, we’re sure that the recently-announced new Olympic format will deliver a top notch show with teams like Russia, Belarus, China and Switzerland certainly in the mix for the win.
The action on Saturday will get underway at 9:00 LOC with ladies’ qualifiers. Men will follow up at 11:10 with the finals coming up at 13:30. The team event on Sunday will kick off with the individual round at 8:40, while the finals are slated to take place at 13:30.
WATCH LIVE
Belarus 5 (Belarus), BTV & Changchun TV (China), Eurosport player (Europe), Eurosport 1 (Asia/Pacific), Polsat Sport Extra (Poland), NBC Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold
QUICK LINKS
Shimao Lotus Mountain aerials World Cup data page (event programme, start lists, live scoring, results)
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