Demidova and Bowman impress in Secret Garden
Dec 21, 2019·Freeski Park & Pipe
FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup competition took to the future venue of the 2021 Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships and Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Saturday, where Valeriya Demidova of Russia and Noah Bowman of Canada won a hugely entertaining competition under blue skies and calm winds.
Demidova takes first career win with superb effort
The top-ranked rider after Thursday’s qualification round, Demidova came into Saturday’s finals knowing that her run - with it’s combination of spins all four ways, at least one solid invert, and unorthodox grabs - would be a tough one to beat, and on Saturday she simply stuck to her blueprint by nailing both of first two of three finals runs, scoring a 92.00 on run one and ticking that up a notch with a 92.50 on run two.
Coming into the final run of the day, both the second and third overall qualifiers Rachael Karker (CAN) and Li Fanghui (CHN), respectively, sat in those same positions, with one final shot to topple Demidova. Unfortunately for each of them, both would falter in their final runs, with the qualification order sticking through finals for the top three and 19-year-old Demidova taking her first career World Cup win.
“I’m so happy,” a smiling Demidova said after the award ceremony, “The pipe was so good, everybody was riding so good, and I’m one of the happiest kids ever because I’m going home for the holidays with this great news for my parents. Secret Garden is a great resort, even though it can be a bit cold and windy, the pipe is perfect, and it’s been a great week here.”
With the win, Demidova was able to overtake China’s Zhang Kexin for the halfpipe World Cup lead with three of five 2019/20 competitions completed, with Demidova holding 205 points to Zhang’s 200.
Bowman takes career’s second and jumps into tie for World Cup lead
On the men’s side it was the cleanest skier of the day walking away with his second career World Cup win, as Noah Bowman put down a smooth, stylish and satisfying run, with his mix of subtly technical riding and deceptively casual amplitude on his second run earning him a score of 91.50.
With Lyman Currier (USA) sitting in second-place after earning a second run score of 89.75, and Birk Irving in third place, top qualifier Aaron Blunck dropped in for the very last run of the day and put down a ridiculously technical run that had everyone in the finish area on pins and needles as the judges took an extended look at the video of his run before issuing their scores.
In the end, a bit of looseness and a missed grab would cost Blunck us second-straight win, and he would finish in second to bump Irving off the podium and Currier down to third.
“I supper happy with how today went,” 27-year-old Bowman said from the finish area, “I had been struggling in practice a little, and so to put down the run that I did today I couldn’t be more stoked about it. The pipe was perfect today, the weather was perfect, we lucked out with no wind, and I think we really showed that this can be a great venue.”
With the win, Bowman jumps up into a tie for the men’s halfpipe World Cup lead with Blunck, with both riders having a win, a runner up, and a third place result in three competitions so far this season for 240 points, while Irving sits in third with 200 points.
Next up for the FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup after the holiday break is Mammoth Mountain, going down from Jan 30-Feb 1, 2020.
TRICK LIST - WOMEN:
Demidova - right flare truck driver, left 720 mute, switch left ally-oop 360 tail, left 540 japan, right 720 tail, switch right ally-oop 360 mute, left ally-oop 720
Karker - left flare mute, right cork 900, left cork 900, straight air japan, left 720, switch left ally-oop 360 safety
Li - air to fakie mute, switch right 540 safety, switch left 360 japan, right 540 safety, left 540 japan, right 720 safety, switch left 540 japan
TRICK LIST - MEN:
Bowman - right 360 stalefish, switch left dub 1080 safety, right 1080 tail, switch left 540 high safety, switch left dub 900 high safety
Blunck - switch left dub 900 japan, switch right dub 1080 japan, left dub flat 900 japan, right dub 1440, switch right ally-oop 720 high safety
Currier - switch left 720 truck, left dub 1260 safety, left dub 1260 mute, right 900 truck driver, left 900 tail, left ally-oop 720 nose grab
QUICK LINKS
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