Skiers to go for overall Europa Cup wins in Obersaxen

The final high-level races of the para-alpine ski season are set for Obersaxen, Switzerland, from 16-18 March, as skiers line-up for the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup Finals.

Around 60 skiers from 16 countries will attempt to secure overall men’s and women’s sitting, standing and visually impaired titles.

Points are available in each classification and gender from giant slalom, super-G and super-combined.

The men’s standing will be hotly contested between a trio of Austrian teammates who make up the current top three.

Points leader Martin Wuerz, 22, has made it onto the podium nine times this season to take the No.1 position, including three wins. Going into the competition he has a nearly 200 point lead over his super-G Paralympic champion teammate Markus Salcher.

Salcher is riding high after winning the overall men’s super-G and downhill standing World Cup and will be aiming to end his season on a good note.

Completing the Austrian threesome is Christoph Bernhard Schneider, another youngster at 23, who has had an impressive season.

Switzerland’s Bigna Schmidt is the leader in the women’s standing and with the absence of second and third place skiers, Germany’s Andrea Rothfuss and Russia’s Anastasiia Khorosheva, she will take the overall Europa Cup on home snow.

Poland’s Igor Sikorski will attempt to secure his second place in the men’s sitting rankings ahead of South Korea’s Sang Min Han. Sikorski’s lead over Han is just two points and both men will be looking over their shoulders for a surge from France’s Frederic Francois in fourth.

The Netherlands’ Linda van Impelen will get her hands on the women’s sitting overall Europa Cup in the absence of the German duo of Anna-Lena Forster and Anna Schaffelhuber.

In the men’s visually impaired Austria’s Gernot Morgenfurt, currently ranked at No.3, could jump to first place with a solid performance with guide Christoph Peter Gmeiner.

He currently trails Russia’s Ivan Frantsev and Valerii Redkozubov who have not made the journey to Obersaxen.

Poland’s Maciej Krezel, guided by Anna Ogarzynska and the Czech Republic’s Patrick Hetmer with guide Miroslav Macala, could also finish in the top three with a strong end to their season.

The Belgium duo of points leader Eleonor Sana and guide Chloe Sana and Marie-Morgane Dessart guided by Marine Francoise A Antoine will be hoping to impress in the women’s visually impaired.

Current points rankings can be found at IPC Alpine Skiing’s website, alongside results from every competition day.

Action gets underway on Wednesday (16 March) with super-G.