Aerials World Cup season continues in Moscow
Feb 15, 2019·Freestyle
Straight from the Utah 2019 FIS World Championships in Deer Valley, the world’s best aerialists will be back in action again this weekend, with the second stop of the 2018/19 FIS Freestyle aerials World Cup season set to go down in Moscow on Saturday, February 16.
With the giant scaffold jump set-up in place just outside the city centre and true rock show always on display when the World Cup competition comes to Moscow, the ninth iteration of the aerials World Cup in the Russian capital promises to be once again a standout on the World Cup calendar.
The Moscow event will be the second of the season after Lake Placid got the ball rolling back in January and also it will be the fifth-straight season that Moscow has hosted World Cup aerials competition.
Coming into Moscow’s competition on top of the World Cup standing is Xu Mengtao (CHN) following her victory in the season’s opening event in Lake Placid. Xu is coming off a strong showing at the world championships in Utah, where she claimed individual bronze medal as well as a silver medal in the team event alongside her compatriots Sun Jiaxu and Wang Xindi.
With three podium finishes in three competitions so far this season Xu is the one to keep an eye on this Saturday, as the Chinese veteran is looking to clinch her third consecutive aerials World Cup title once the tour wraps up in March on Xu’s home soil at Shimao Lotus Mountains. And taking into consideration her form in 2018/19, we can expect Xu to be in the mix of podium contenders also on Saturday night.
Then there’s Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya (BLR), the newly-crowned world champion from last week. Ramanouskaya was the only athlete beside Ashley Caldwell performing the triple-flipping jumps at Deer Valley, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the Belarusian athlete was ready to risk it once again and aim for another victory this week.
Also to consider among the favourites in Moscow is the silver world championships medalist and Russia’s own Liubov Nikitina, the fourth-place finishing in Utah Laura Peel (AUS) and there before-mentioned Caldwell.
Finally let’s not forget about the up-and-comers from China Shao Qi and Xu Nuo, number two and three on the World Cup tour this season, as well as USA’s Madison Vermette and Winter Vinecki, number five and six in the season’s opener in Lake Placid.
Anticipation is high also on the men’s side of things, as Russia’s favourite Maxim Burov is entering the competition on home soil as the 2018/19 aerials World Cup leader, as well as the 2019 world champion following his two victories on the biggest stage so far in the season in Utah. Burov also led his Russian team to win the bronze medals at the historic first-ever world championships’ aerials team event, which should give the 20-year-old athlete from Yaroslavl a huge boost of confidence before the action in Moscow starts for good.
But Maxim Burov won’t be on his own in trying to take the win for his home nation, as his brother brother Ilia, as well as Stanislav Nikitin, Pavel Krotov and a couple of younger athletes will also be on hand and looking to shine in front of the home crowd.
Going further down the starting list, watch out for the veteran Anton Kushnir (BLR), the Chinese duo of Wang Xindi and Sun Jiaxu as well as the young Swiss talents of Nicolas Gygax and Noe Roth, who are coming straight off impressive performances at the Utah 2019 World Champs that include the team aerials gold and an individual bronze for Roth.
The qualifications on Saturday start with ladies at 14:00 LOC, followed by men at 16:30. Finals are scheduled to take place under the lights with the first athlete dropping in at 19:30.
QUICK LINKS
Moscow FIS data page (event programme, start lists, live scoring, results)
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