Dale Begg-Smith has finished in tenth place in the opening mogul skiing event of the 2008/09 World Cup season overnight in Meribel, France.

Begg-Smith qualified strongly in second place behind Guilbaut Colas in the dual moguls contest, scoring 24.11 points to the French skier’s 24.36.

But in the first round of the head-to-head finals, the 23-year-old OWI/AIS skier went down to Colas’ team-mate Pierre Ochs, losing 9 points to 26.

OWI/AIS Head Mogul Skiing Coach Steve Desovich was not too disappointed with the result.

"Dale skiied really well in the qualification," Desovich said, "and that's a good sign for the rest of the season."

"But unfortunately he made a mistake in the middle of the course in the first round of the finals and that was it."

Canadian veteran Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau went on to win the event, defeating compatriot Alexandre Bilodeau in the final.

Anthony Benna of France collected the bronze.

The second round of the mogul skiing World Cup will be held at the Canadian resort of Mont Gabriel on January 24.