Moscow, Russia – Russia’s Ekaterina Tudegesheva and Roland Fischnaller of Italy have won the last parallel slalom of the 2011 LG Snowboard FIS World Cup season held Saturday in downtown Moscow. Fischnaller’s victory ended Austrian rider Benjamin Karl’s historic winning streak at five consecutive trips to the top of the podium.nAt the Vorobyovy Gory area, right in the heart of Moscow, the women’s World Cup leader Tudegesheva clinched her season’s fifth victory, with Japan’s Tomoka Takeuchi taking the second spot. In the battle for third, Doris Guenther of Austria crossed the finish line ahead of Switzerland’s Fraenzi Maegert-Kohli.
On the men’s side, Fischnaller secured his career’s second World Cup win by edging out Rok Marguc of Slovenia in Saturday’s night finals. Switzerland’s Simon Schoch rounded out the podium in third by defeating Siegfried Grabner of Austria in the small final. American Vic Wild of White Salmon, Wash., the sole U.S. competitor, finished 15th after falling to Grabner, the number eight seed.
Pushed by the loud support of hundreds of spectators, Tudegesheva was able to win the tour’s sole stop in her home country for the eighth victory of her career.
“I’m so proud of what I achieved here in Moscow. This victory is a very special one for me,” Tudegesheva acknowledged.
With her win Tudegesheva now has a season total 5,890 points, extending her lead in the Parallel World Cup standings to 1,480 points over runner-up Fraenzi Maegert-Kohli with only two more parallel races scheduled this season at Valmalenco and Arosa, both in Italy. “I will try to win at least one race in order to safely secure the Crystal Globe,” Tudegesheva confirmed.
On the men’s side Karl, who was undefeated this season before Sunday, still sits on the top spot of the World Cup ranking with 5,210 points, but Fischnaller is following closely behind with 4,400 points. Karl had been sitting on a tied winning streak record of five consecutive wins, matching a feat achieved in 2005 by Swiss rider Philipp Schoch, Simon Schoch’s younger brother. Simon Schoch was the rider to close out Karl on Saturday, by only one one-hundredth of a second.
“The only thing I can criticize me for is the fact that I didn’t try a full-length dive,” said Karl. “All the rest was without any mistake. It was a tough fight. And when it comes down to short hills like this one, one hundredth is nothing. Anyway, I will give it another try next year.”
Simon Schoch was all smiles after preserving his brother’s record. “Everybody was aware of the winning streak situation,” he said. “I told him (Karl) in the finish that he now has to wait for the record to be hold only by him. I guess he handled it pretty good.”
It was also redemption for the older Schoch, who lost in the World Championships final in La Molina, Spain, to Karl. “After I lost the World Championships final against him (Karl) and another defeat it was time to beat him again. There is no way that he is immortal. That was a very good motivation to put the pedal to the metal today,” Schoch said.
While Schoch won the duel with Karl, however, it was Fischnaller who triumphed in the end. “We had five races in Russia and I was on the podium four times,” Fischnaller said. “I really like the races here and also the snow. I don’t know why I always do so well here but I guess I just have a good feeling when I enter the country.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
World Cup
Moscow, Russia – Mar. 5, 2011
Parallel Slalom
1. Roland FIschnaller, Italy
2. Rok Marguc, Slovenia
3. Simon Schoch, Switzerland