Gasser and Otsuka favourites heading into Kreischberg slopestyle
Jan 10, 2019·Snowboard Park & Pipe
Kreischberg (AUT) - The FIS Snowboard World Cup returns to the home of the 2015 world championships this weekend, as the first slopestyle competition of 2019 is set to take to the slopes of Kreischberg (AUT). A strong field of 18 ladies and 57 men is on hand in Austrian looking to start the new year off right, and in Friday’s qualifications they'll get a chance to do jus that as they battle for a chance to start in Saturday’s finals.
This weekend’s action in Kreischberg will be the second slopestyle World Cup of 2018/19 after the season opened on a high note in Secret Garden (CHN) - albeit with a somewhat limited field on hand despite the chance to be some of the first to test out what will be the most important venue in snowboarding in just over three year’s time when it becomes the site of competition at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games..
Even with the smaller field size dropping in to open the season in China, two of the very best in the game continued their remarkable starts to the season in the ladies’ competition there. Mayabi Onitsuka and Reira Iwabuchi, by going 1-2 for the third time in park & pipe competition already this season, earned their fourth and third podiums of 2018/19 there in China, respectively.
With Onitsuka taking the win in Secret Garden and Iwabuchi the runner-up, the pair reversed the order that had seen Iwabuchi win the first two big air World Cups of the season with her (slightly) elder teammate Onitsuka in second-place. But, no matter which way you add it up, what has been seen from the 20-year-old Onitsuka and the 17-year-old Iwabuchi this season has been impressive in every way, and the pair are once again looking like a lock to be in the mix come finals time in Kreischberg on Saturday.
However, one major obstacle will be standing in their way, as Austria’s own Anna Gasser will be on hand and looking for a repeat of her victory from the last time the FIS Snowboard World Cup hit the well-sculpted Kreischberg venue two seasons ago, in 2017.
With a victory at the Beijing big air competition back in November and top honours in the Dew Tour slopestyle competition from December already in her back pocket this season, Gasser has been absolutely on top of her game in the early-going of 2018/19, and should be the one standout able of halting the explosive Japanese team this weekend on her home soil event in Kreischberg.
Also to watch out for this weekend on the ladies side will be Silje Norendal (NOR), Sina Candrian (SUI), and Annika Morgan (GER), as the 16-year-old slopestyle junior world championship silver medallist makes her World Cup debut.
Over on the men’s side of things, the Japanese theme remains the same, as Takeru Otsuka comes into competition as the highest-ranked park & pipe rider of the season up to this point, with four podiums in four events in what has been a scorching pace for the 17-year-old in his first season on the World Cup tour.
Fresh off a win Secret Garden and an impressive performance at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge (USA), where he helped team DC win the team challenge, Otsuka is quickly establishing himself as one of the world’s best, and could be tough to match in Kreischberg.
There are slew of other heavy-hitters on hand in the men’s category who will be looking to do just that, however, and the USA’s Chris Corning has proven already this season that he’s more than up to the challenge.
Corning took the win over Otsuka in the season-opening big air World Cup in Cardrona (NZL), before finishing runner-up to his Japanese counterpart at the second World Cup BA of the season in Modena. Though the features on the Kreischberg course are a little smaller than some of those that he seems to thrive upon - as seen with his massive quad-corked 1800 that he stomped to help win in Cardrona - Corning has the technical prowess and the will to make it happen anytime he straps in.
Others likely to make a splash in Kreischberg include Dew Tour slopestyle third-place finisher Mons Roisland (NOR), Beijing Air + Style big air third-place winner and top dog on the men’s side for Austria Clemens Millauer, rising US star Judd Henkes, Secret Garden World Cup second-place finisher Niklas Mattson, and/or a handful of others.
Qualification in Kreischberg begins with the ladies at 9:30 CET on Friday, followed by heat one of the men at 11:40, and heat two at 14:05. Finals on Friday are slated to drop in at 12:30.
QUICK LINKS:
Kreischberg data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
