Dale Begg-Smith has finished in fifth place in the dual moguls World Cup in Deer Valley, Utah. Begg-Smith topped the elimination round with an impressive 26.42 points, almost one point ahead of his nearest rival, Nathan Roberts of the United States.
Dale Begg-Smith has finished in fifth place in the dual moguls World Cup in Deer Valley, Utah.
Begg-Smith topped the elimination round with an impressive 26.42 points, almost one point ahead of his nearest rival, Nathan Roberts of the United States.
The 21-year-old Olympic champion then won his first dual encounter, defeating Finnish skier Eemeli Kallas 23 points to 12.
But in the quarter final round he was eliminated 9 points to 26 by the eventual winner, Frenchman Guilbaut Colas.
Colas defeated Canadian Vincent Marquis in the final, with the bronze medal going to another Canadian, Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau.
"We're taking a lot of positives out of today," said Olympic Winter Institute Head Moguls Coach Steve Desovich.
"Duals is mainly about aggression and speed and intensity, and that's not necessarily Dale's forte."
"You have to really push it and put your body on the line and we're not prepared to let him do that."
"Most positive for us today was the great qualifying run he did, and the fact that he's worked out his jump at the bottom of the course that has been giving him some trouble."
"He finally looked and felt comfortable off both jumps and it was a convincing qualifying performance."
Begg-Smith's Olympic Winter Institute team-mate Michael Robertson was unlucky not to feature in the final rounds, finishing 0.01 of a point and one place outside the 16-man final on 23.47 points.
Nick Fisher was four places further back on 23.16 points, with Ramone Cooper in 27th place on 22.50 points.
Begg-Smith has now slipped back to third place on the World Cup points standings, on 174 points. Colas leads the title race with 212 points, 27 points ahead of second placed Roberts on 185.
With next weekend's World Cup event in Lake Placid another casualty of the unusually warm weather affecting the north-eastern United States, the Olympic Winter Institute team will continue to train in Utah for the remainder of January before heading to the Czech Republic for the next event on the calendar on February 3.
Begg-Smith topped the elimination round with an impressive 26.42 points, almost one point ahead of his nearest rival, Nathan Roberts of the United States.
The 21-year-old Olympic champion then won his first dual encounter, defeating Finnish skier Eemeli Kallas 23 points to 12.
But in the quarter final round he was eliminated 9 points to 26 by the eventual winner, Frenchman Guilbaut Colas.
Colas defeated Canadian Vincent Marquis in the final, with the bronze medal going to another Canadian, Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau.
"We're taking a lot of positives out of today," said Olympic Winter Institute Head Moguls Coach Steve Desovich.
"Duals is mainly about aggression and speed and intensity, and that's not necessarily Dale's forte."
"You have to really push it and put your body on the line and we're not prepared to let him do that."
"Most positive for us today was the great qualifying run he did, and the fact that he's worked out his jump at the bottom of the course that has been giving him some trouble."
"He finally looked and felt comfortable off both jumps and it was a convincing qualifying performance."
Begg-Smith's Olympic Winter Institute team-mate Michael Robertson was unlucky not to feature in the final rounds, finishing 0.01 of a point and one place outside the 16-man final on 23.47 points.
Nick Fisher was four places further back on 23.16 points, with Ramone Cooper in 27th place on 22.50 points.
Begg-Smith has now slipped back to third place on the World Cup points standings, on 174 points. Colas leads the title race with 212 points, 27 points ahead of second placed Roberts on 185.
With next weekend's World Cup event in Lake Placid another casualty of the unusually warm weather affecting the north-eastern United States, the Olympic Winter Institute team will continue to train in Utah for the remainder of January before heading to the Czech Republic for the next event on the calendar on February 3.
