Aerialists compete at Europa Cup event in Ruka
Dec 02, 2019·FreestyleWith just three more weeks left before the FIS Freestyle Ski Aerials World Cup kicks into gear in Shimao Lotus Mountain (CHN) on December 21-22, the Europa Cup event went down this past weekend in Ruka (FIN) with some of the world’s best athlete on hand giving their best in the first competition “on snow” of 2019/20 season.
Following months of preparations and some interesting water ramps events earlier in the fall, many national teams have descended to Ruka to enjoy perfect training conditions offered by the Finnish ski resort.
Also for the first time this season, the athletes had a chance to compete on snow in Europa Cup event held on Friday and Saturday, Nov 30 - Dec 1. Two individual competitions as well as one synchro team event went down this weekend with over 60 participants representing nine different nations and including many top World Cup athletes.
Day 1
In the women’s event on Friday it was Laura Peel (AUS) who managed to land on top of the podium with a final score of 184.66 points for her back double Full-Full and a back Full-Full. Second place went to Zhanbota Aldabergenova (KAZ), who received 170.8 points for her back Full-Full and a back Lay-Full. Anastasiya Novosa (UKR) rounded out the women’s podium in third with 153.92 points for her back Lay-Full and a back Full-Full.
Over on the men’s side Noe Roth led 1-2 punch for the Swiss team landing his back Full-Full-Full and a back Full-double Full - Full for a combined scored of 238.80 points. Roth’s teammate Pirmin Werner finished in second place with 225.77 points for his back Lay-Full-Full, while Pavel Krotov (RUS) completed the men’s podium with a third place and 192.81 points for his back Full-double Full and a back double Full-Full.
Day 2
Saturday’s competition begun with a single jump individual event. In the women’s competition Friday’s runner-up Zhanbota Aldabergenova took jumped on the highest step of the podium and took the win with 86.94 points for her back Full-Full. Aldabergenova was followed by her compatriot Ahmarzhan Kalmurzayeva in second place with 80.62 points for her back Lay-Full, while third place went to Ursina Platz of Switzerland, who received 78.30 points for her back Lay-Tuck.
In the men’s event it was Ilia Burov, who led the podium sweep for Russia ahead of his brother Maxim Burov in second place and Ruslan Katmanov in third place. Ilia Burov led the field with 102.93 points for his back Full-double Full. Maxim Burov received 101.87 points for his back Full-double Full, while Katmanow earned a score of 100.46 points for his back double Full-Full.
Following the individual event it was time for the synchro team competition, where two athletes representing one team would simultaneously perform the same jump.
On the women’s side it was Zhanbota Aldebergenova and Akmarzhan Kalmurzayeva who went for the first place for Kazakhstan with 79,69 points for their perfectly matched back Lay-Full. Second place went to Sniazhana Darbiankova and Yana Yarmashevich of Belarus, who received 68,64 points for their back Lay-Tuck, while Iori Usui (JPN) and Ursina Platz finished the competition in third place with a score of 51,48 points for a back Lay-Tuck.
In the men’s competition Noe Roth and Pirmin Werner snagged the first place for Switzerland with a score of 80.16 points for their back double Full-Full. Stanislau Hladchenko and Pavel Dik of Belarus followed behind in second place with 77.49 points for their back Full-Full, while Maksym Kuznietsov and Volodymyr Kushnir of Ukraine rounded out the men’s podium in third, earning a score of 76.35 points also for their back Full-Full.