Graham Falls Short of Podium in China

2019 Olympic medallist and New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Matt Graham has continued his strong form, just missing the podium in the moguls event with a fourth place finish at the World Cup in Beidahu, China.

Graham also had a second top 10 in the dual moguls on day two of competition, placing sixth.

Graham and NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods both qualified for finals in second and eighth place, scoring 78.66 and 76.70 points respectively.

In the first round of finals, Graham stepped up his run to score 81.41, placing him through to his first super-final of the season in fifth.

Unfortunately Woods was unable to progress finishing 16^th.

Graham stepped it up again in the super-final, this time scoring 83.65, to fall just short of the podium by 0.14 points.

In first place was Ikuma Horishima of Japan, 86.57. Canadian Mikael Kingsbury was second on 85.91, and Filip Gravenfors of Sweden third with 83.79.

NSWIS skiers George Murphy was 30^th, Jackson Harvey in his return from injury 34^th, and Oliver Logan 36^th.

Graham advanced through to the quarter-final round in the dual moguls, finishing in sixth.

Graham had victories over Korean Yoonseung Lee in round 32 and Canadian Sam Cordell in round 16 to set up a quarter final match against Nick Page of USA.

In a close quarter final duel, Graham unfortunately lost to the American 20 to 15.

Woods andHarvey both made it through to round 32, finishing in 17^th and 32^nd place respectively.

Murphy placed 39^th and Logan 40^th in round 64.

Finish skier Severi Vierela claimed his first career victory, Horishima was second and Julien Viel of Canada third.

With double World Cup events remaining in Almaty, Kazakhstan (February 28 and March 1), and the Olympic test event in Livigno, Italy (March 11 and 12), Graham is currently ranked sixth in single moguls, fourth in dual moguls and fourth overall on the combined Mogul standings.

Story: Olympic Winter Institute of Australia

Photo: Taro Tampo