Moguls World Cup moves to the bumpy slopes of Thaiwoo

Aug 31, 2018·Freestyle

Thaiwoo (CHN) - The final two FIS Freestyle Skiing moguls World Cup competitions of 2017 are set to take to the slopes of China’s Thaiwoo resort on Thursday and Friday, 21 & 22 December, with stacked days of competition beginning with qualifications at 9:35 local time and finals slated to take to the bumps at 13:30 on both days of the event.

This week’s action in Thaiwoo will be the second and third moguls World Cup competitions of the 2017/18 season after the winter kicked off in Ruka last two weekends ago, with Britteny Cox (AUS) repeating as ladies’ winner at the spot where she took her first World Cup victory last season, and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) making some more history with a record-breaking eighth-straight men’s moguls World Cup victory.

This is the second time the moguls World Cup has visited Thaiwoo after hugely successful moguls and dual moguls competition on the custom-built course last season.

Last season it was Perrine Laffont (FRA) and Cox trading wins at in ladies’ competition at Thaiwoo, with Laffont taking the single moguls win and second place in the duals, and Cox on top in the duals while taking third in the singles. With Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe the runner-up in the singles and third-place in the duals, we saw the same three ladies’ dominating proceedings last season, simply shuffling the deck for the podiums in the two competitions.

While Cox already has one win under her belt this season, both Laffont and Dufour-Lapointe - second and third overall last season, respectively - will be looking to get their season’s on track after disappointing results in Ruka where Laffont finished in sixth place a Dufour-Lapointe in seventh. However, with ladies like Audrey Robichaud (CAN) and Marika Pertikayha (RUS) - second and third in Ruka, respectively - having strong starts to the season, it won’t be easy to climb back on to the podium in Thaiwoo.

Over on the men’s side it was the Mikael Kingsbury show at last season’s Thaiwoo event, as the winningest men’s moguls skier of all-time swept the weekend with wins in both contests. While there’s still a long way to go for Kingsbury to challenge Hannah Kearney’s all-time moguls record of 16 straight wins, you know the 25-year-old would love to make a couple more steps towards that goal this week.

Australia made a strong showing in Thaiwoo last season, with Brodie Summers and Matt Graham going two-three in the single moguls competition. Meanwhile, in the duals, it was young Marco Tade (SUI) taking his second career podium with a second-place result, with USA veteran Bradley Wilson following him up in third.

Interestingly, Tade and Wilson would flip positions on the podium at the Sierra Nevada 2017 dual moguls competition, with Wilson taking silver and Tade bronze. With only back-to-back single moguls competitions this season in Thaiwoo, those two will have to step up their singles game if they’re looking for a podium this season.

Lastly, watch out for the Kazakh men’s squad, as Dmitriy Reikherd and Pavel Kolmakov finished second and third, respectively, in Ruka to start the season. Reikherd has long been a strong presence on the moguls World Cup tour, and with a good start in 2017/18 it appears he’s once again on track this season.

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Competition program

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Competition program

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Ladies' start list

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Ladies' start list

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Men's star list

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Men's star list