Halfpipe World Cup season set to get underway in Cardrona
Sep 04, 2019·Freeski Park & Pipe
The 2019/20 FIS Freeski World Cup season is set to get underway this weekend in Cardrona (NZL) at the 2019 Winter Games NZ, with halfpipe competition slated for a Friday qualification and Saturday finals at one of the Southern Hemisphere’s best pipes. Friday’s qualifications are slated to begin at 9:30 local time, while finals are expected to get underway at 11:00 the following day.
A solid international field of skiers is on hand to unleash the new season with an early September start, including a good selection of established veterans and some up-and-comers keen to make their mark at the outset of the 2019/20 campaign.
The Canadian squad comes into Cardrona rolling especially heavy, with Cassie Sharpe and Simon D’Artois - the respective women’s and men’s 2018/19 halfpipe crystal globe winners - leading the charge, along with the likes of consistent podium threats Noah Bowman and Brendan MacKay on the men’s side of things.
Both Sharpe and D’Artois hit the podium last time Cardrona hosted World Cup halfpipe action back in 2017, with Sharpe taking a victory and D’Artois ending up in third place at that event.
Dating back to the 2016/17 season Sharpe has six victories in her last eight World Cup competitions entered, to go along with PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games gold and Utah 2019 world championships silver, and is the odds-on favourite to win nearly every time she drops into the pipe. However, a crash suffered by Sharpe in Wednesday’s training session may open the door for some of the other women who are on hand and looking to start the season strong.
This includes the Chinese duo of Zhang Kexin and Li Fanghui, who finished 2018/19 ranked third and fifth, respectively, as well as Yujin Jang of Korea, Sabrina Cakmakli of Germany, and rising star Eileen Gu, also of China, who won the Australia New Zealand Cup halfpipe competition at Cardrona last week.
Over on the men’s side, the strongest challenge to the top Canadian trio will come from two-time reigning world champion Aaron Blunck of the USA, who should be coming in Cardrona hungry after ending last season at the Mammoth Mountain World Cup with his first result outside of the top-10 in four years.
Blunck is just the tip of the iceberg, however, as the US will be fielding a huge team for Friday’s qualifications, with the likes of Birk Irving, Hunter Hess, Lyman Currier, Lennon Vaughan and Taylor Seaton, as well us up-and-comers Jaxin Hoerter and Cassidy Jarrell all looking to land one of the 10 finalist spots for the men.
Other’s to watch out for on the men’s side include French veteran Thomas Krief, Mao Bingqiang of China, and New Zealand’s own Miguel Porteous, who holds the host nation’s best shot at a podium spot this weekend.
With all that being said, anything can happen come qualification time on Friday, and we can’t wait to see how it goes down as another World Cup season gets underway with FIS Freeski halfpipe action hitting the Winter Games NZ in Cardrona this weekend.
WATCH LIVE
CCTV (China) , L'Equipe (France), Sky Channel 9 (New Zealand), live streaming on NBC Olympic channel (USA).
Live streaming will be also avialable via FIS Freestyle Skiing 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 available can be seen HERE.
QUICK LINKS
FIS Freeski halfpipe World Cup Cardrona data page (start lists, live scoring, results)
Live streaming will be also available via FIS Freestyle Skiing Youtube channel
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