Ice World Cup, Saas-Fee

The third round of the Ice World Cup at Saas-Fee goes to Dimitri Bytchkov and Ines Papert.

January 2002

The third round of the Ice World Cup goes to Dimitri Bytchkov and Ines Papert. Whereas Papert’s victory comes as no great surprise - the World Champion had to win to keep her World Cup title chances alive - Bytchkov’s win may, at first glance, seem all the more incredible. But his fourth place in Pitztal and his sixth place in Valle di Daone recently showed what he is capable of achieving. Victory perhaps was just a matter of time.

Men’s event
The Open finished with a surprise result: Dulac, winner in both Kirov and Valle di Daone, failed to qualify. And the Semi-final finished with another surprise: the elimination of Evgeny Krivosheitsev, current World Champion. Alexandre Matveev, Harald Berger, Mathias Schiestl, Aljaz Anderle, Alexei Tomilov, Will Gadd, Dimitri Bytchkov and Stephane Husson qualified for the Final in this order, and in the end Bytchkov beat Berger and Husson to second and third place respectively.

Women’s event
Ines Papert, as already mentioned, won this IWC third round, ahead of Petra MÃ¼ller from Switzerland and Kirsten Buchmann from Germany. Ksenia Sdobnikova, winner in Kirov and Daone, placed fourth to gain some vital world cup points and retain her provisional leadership. Abby Watkins placed fifth, Ildi Kiss sixth, Mi-sun Go seventh and Stephanie Maureau eighth.

Speed
The Speed event was won by the Russian Alexandre Matveev, ahead of Evgeny Krivosheitsev and Iouri Oleinikov. Ines Papert beat Ildi Kiss and Monica Gemelli to call Saas Fee her own.

IWC Provisional ranking
Daniel Dulac’s Swiss hiccup costs him dearly, as Harald Berger now takes control, 10 points clear of the Frenchman and 32 points ahead of third placed Will Gadd. Ksenia Sdobnikova leads the women’s field, 45 points ahead of Kirsten Buchmann and 53 ahead of Ines Papert.

After and intensive January the athlete’s have a month’s rest before the final showdown round in Quebec. The beginning of March will prove decisive.

Results Men
1	Dimitri Bytchkov	RUS
2	Harald Berger	AUT
3	Stephane Husson	FRA
4	Aljaz Anderle	SLO
5	Mathias Schiestl	AUT
6	Alexei Tomilov	RUS
8	Alexandre Matveev	RUS

Results Women
1	Ines Papert	GER
2	Petra MÃ¼ller	SUI
3	Kirsten Buchmann	GER
4	Ksenia Sdobnikova	RUS
5	Abby Watkins	AUS
6	Ildi Kiss	HUN
7	Mi-sun Go	KOR
8	Stephanie Maureau	FRA