All set for moguls season’s kick-off in Ruka
Dec 07, 2019·Freestyle
After long months of anticipation for what promises to be another thrilling moguls campaign, the downtime is finally over and the FIS Freestyle Ski Moguls World Cup is about to get the ball rolling into the 2019/20 season this Saturday in Ruka (FIN).
For the 10th time in a row the season is set to start the far north of Finland at Ruka’s famous “Battery Run” course, and based on the consistent success of previous editions it’s fair to expect nothing but an electrifying competition under the lights.
The organisers in Ruka have delivered a five-star course year after year, and again this season “Battery Run” is ready to welcome the world’s best moguls skiers as they’ll look to kick off another World Cup campaign on a high note.
When discussing the women’s side of the competition, it’s hard not to begin with Perrine Laffont (FRA), not only as the favourite in Ruka, but also in the longer-term as a candidate to take the 2019/20 World Cup title. The 21-year-old skier who will be dropping in on Saturday for Team France is coming off another big season, in which she claimed her second straight moguls World Cup crystal globe, taking four victories and not finishing lower than on a third place in all nine competitions of the 2018/19 campaign. On top of that, she claimed two Utah 2019 world championships medals from Deer Valley - including dual moguls gold.
But Laffont will face some strong competition in Ruka, with Jaelin Kauf (USA), Jakara Anthony (AUS) and Yulia Galysheva (KAZ), all well-capable of upsetting the French champion, which each of them were able to do at least once each last season.
Then add to the mix the likes of Tess Johnson (USA), the Canadian sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, the Japanese duo of Junko Hoshino and Hinako Tomitaka, as well as Laura Grasemann (GER), Olivia Giaccio (USA) and Britteny Cox (AUS), and it suddenly looks like it might be anyone’s game once the competition goes down on Saturday afternoon.
Things will be equally interesting on the men’s side, where Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) will be looking to continue his winning streak in Ruka, where he has landed on top of the podium in each competition since 2015.
Saturday’s competition will be a milestone for “the King” no matter what the result, as the 27-year-old will be making his 100th World Cup appearance. One of the fiercest competitors to ever put on skis, you can count on Kingsbury to pull out all the stops on his way to making a memorable moment when hits the century mark of World Cup starts on Saturday.
However, we’re also sure that Kingsbury’s rivals will be as motivated as ever before to unseat a run of dominance that has gone on nearly as long as he first stepped on to the World Cup scene to take “Rookie of the Year” honours a decade ago.
There’s a handful of athletes that we would recommend to take into account when putting down your bets this weekend. When looking for candidates to battle for a spot on a podium count on Ikuma Horishima (JPN), Benjamin Cavet (FRA), Walter Wallberg (SWE), Matt Graham (AUS), Dmitriy Reikherd (KAZ) or Jimi Salonen (FIN), just to name a few of those able to set the fastest times and stomped the most difficult tricks on Saturday, all for our viewing pleasure.
The competition in Ruka are set to start on Saturday at 9:40 LOC with women’s qualifications. Men’s qualifications will follow up at 12:35 LOC, while the FINALS will go down at 16:00 LOC.
WATCH LIVE
CBC (Canada), Eurosport Player (Europe), YLE 2 (Finland), L’Equipe (France), JSPORT 3 (Japan), SVT1 (Sweden), NBC Sports Gold (USA).
Live streaming will be also available on our YouTube channel. Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming may not be available in your region. Full list of countries with the live streaming will is available HERE.
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