The site constructed out of scaffold for the Aerial World Cup in downtown Moscow (Image: FIS) Another strong result by Australian Laura Peel has pushed the 22-year-old aerial skier to within a few points of finishing the season with a world ranking of four.
Peel finished in sixth place in the season’s penultimate World Cup aerial skiing event in front of about 7000 people in Moscow today, adding a further 40 points to her tally.
The ninth round World Cup event was dominated by Chinese athletes who filled the top four places.
Fanyu Kong picked up the gold medal, followed by series leader Mengtao Xu and reigning World Champion Shuang Cheng in third.
In only her second year on the World Cup tour, Peel’s impressive season has netted her six top ten finishes from the eight events contested by the Australians, including a win and a third place.
Peel, who qualified in seventh place in Moscow, impressed the judges with a double twisting double somersault jump, scoring 85.52 points, recording the day’s equal top mark for her impeccable landing.
Her consistent success means that her current ranking of six is just one point behind fifth and five points from fourth.
With the season’s ending event in Myrkdalen-Voss, Norway, on March 17, Peel is looking towards another strong performance to finish four months on the road.
Even if she is unable to lift her current ranking higher in Norway, the Australian Institute of Sport / Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder will see her ranking skyrocket from 17 in 2010 / 2011.
She went into this season without any expectations of world rankings, however, she is thrilled with the way her World Cup year has panned out.
“I hadn’t really thought about rankings at the start of the season but I suppose I would have been happy with anything in the top 10,” Peel said.
And the Australian aerial squad’s fortunes this season have been further bolstered by the solid performance of World Cup rookie Danielle Scott, who celebrated her 22nd birthday four days ago.
The fellow AIS / VIS scholarship holder recorded her sixth top 10 finish for the season by placing ninth today after qualifying in fifth place.
Peel finished in sixth place in the season’s penultimate World Cup aerial skiing event in front of about 7000 people in Moscow today, adding a further 40 points to her tally.
The ninth round World Cup event was dominated by Chinese athletes who filled the top four places.
Fanyu Kong picked up the gold medal, followed by series leader Mengtao Xu and reigning World Champion Shuang Cheng in third.
In only her second year on the World Cup tour, Peel’s impressive season has netted her six top ten finishes from the eight events contested by the Australians, including a win and a third place.
Peel, who qualified in seventh place in Moscow, impressed the judges with a double twisting double somersault jump, scoring 85.52 points, recording the day’s equal top mark for her impeccable landing.
Her consistent success means that her current ranking of six is just one point behind fifth and five points from fourth.
With the season’s ending event in Myrkdalen-Voss, Norway, on March 17, Peel is looking towards another strong performance to finish four months on the road.
Even if she is unable to lift her current ranking higher in Norway, the Australian Institute of Sport / Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder will see her ranking skyrocket from 17 in 2010 / 2011.
She went into this season without any expectations of world rankings, however, she is thrilled with the way her World Cup year has panned out.
“I hadn’t really thought about rankings at the start of the season but I suppose I would have been happy with anything in the top 10,” Peel said.
And the Australian aerial squad’s fortunes this season have been further bolstered by the solid performance of World Cup rookie Danielle Scott, who celebrated her 22nd birthday four days ago.
The fellow AIS / VIS scholarship holder recorded her sixth top 10 finish for the season by placing ninth today after qualifying in fifth place.
The 29 points earned by the Mt Buller skier during the night time event in Moscow has presented her with an opportunity to finish her first World Cup year within the top 10.
Scott is defending a two point lead over 10th place Xin Zhang from China, but she has her eyes firmly fixed on unseating Hanna Huskova from Belarus and Ukrainian Nadiya Didenko, who are nine and 14 points ahead of the Australian in seventh and eighth places.
The third Australian competing in Moscow was Samantha Wells, finished 14th.
Peel’s performance was made even more impressive given that she was not able to train in Moscow until yesterday due to a sickness.
While she is focused on another strong performance in Norway, Peel is looking further ahead to the off season when she will work on jumps with a higher degree of difficulty, a move that is necessary to give her a chance of regularly appearing on the World Cup podium.
“If I can increase my degree of difficulty and keep my execution, things will go well,” Peel said.
Scott is defending a two point lead over 10th place Xin Zhang from China, but she has her eyes firmly fixed on unseating Hanna Huskova from Belarus and Ukrainian Nadiya Didenko, who are nine and 14 points ahead of the Australian in seventh and eighth places.
The third Australian competing in Moscow was Samantha Wells, finished 14th.
Peel’s performance was made even more impressive given that she was not able to train in Moscow until yesterday due to a sickness.
While she is focused on another strong performance in Norway, Peel is looking further ahead to the off season when she will work on jumps with a higher degree of difficulty, a move that is necessary to give her a chance of regularly appearing on the World Cup podium.
“If I can increase my degree of difficulty and keep my execution, things will go well,” Peel said.
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