Aust's Graham wins World Cup moguls silver

Australia's Matt Graham has won a silver medal in moguls skiing at the World Cup round in Canada.

Australian mogul skier Matt Graham has claimed his second World Cup medal of the season in Val St Come, Canada and his coach says he has plenty of improvement to come.

The 20-year-old finished second behind Canada's Mikael Kingsbury while Russia's Alexandr Smyshlyaev took the bronze medal.

Graham believed the quality of his performance was better than his silver medal effort in the United States a month ago due to greater consistency.

"In Deer Valley I was a little shaky in the earlier rounds and then pulled it all together for the super final whereas here I was more consistent across the board," Graham said.

The silver medal enhances a good season for Australian winter sport athletes who have captured nine medals in World Cups and world championships.

Graham placed seventh at last year's Olympic Winter Games in Russia and, while he has improved significantly, he aims to increase the level of difficulty of his aerial acrobatics.

With just one event left this season, in Japan at the end of the month, national head coach Steve Desovich is already planning an intensive off-season training plan for Graham and his other charges to build on Australia's growing credibility in moguls skiing.

Desovich said Graham would spend a lot more time in water jump training compared with previous off seasons.

"The biggest difference between now and 12 months ago is that Matt has upped the degree of difficulty with his jumps," Desovich said.

"He now has an air package which is competitive with the upper field. Of course it is ongoing and there are a lot of skills which are incomplete still.

"As excited as we are about his performance he can get a lot better.

"With jumps for instance, there are some specific things he needs to work on that require a lot of water ramp time.

"We are aiming for 60 days of off season ramp training for Matt to bring his skills up to that level, which is comparable with the top guys."


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Source: AAP


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