Yabuli, China – China’s Jiayu Liu and Nathan Johnstone of Australia, the respective women’s 2009 Halfpipe World Champion and the men’s 2011 Halfpipe World Champion, dominated Sunday’s first ever LG Snowboard FIS World Cup contest held in China.nLiu, who scored 27.8 out of a maximum of 30 points, finished ahead of teammates Xuetong Cai (25.8) and Shuang Li (22.9) who completed a Chinese women’s podium sweep.
On the men’s side, two Chinese riders also rounded out the podium next to Johnstone (27.6). Yiwei Zhang (25.8) finished second, Wancheng Shi (24.2) in third. Both had strong second runs to land them in the medals. Zhang threw a backside air, frontside 720 indy, haakon 720, frontside 900 melon and a backside 540 mute. Shi finished with a frontside 1080, cab 720, frontside 900, backside 540 mute and frontside air.
Both, however, failed to attack the best mark set by Johnstone, who singlehandedly prevented China from scoring all six medals on home snow. Only four days after his 21st birthday, the rider from down underscored his 2011 World Championship title in Spain earned about a month ago with his first World Cup win in 11 starts on Sunday. Johnstone’s clean run consisted of frontside 900 mute to backside 900 melon, back-to-back 720’s and a frontside air to finish things off.
“It was really good today. The halfpipe was just unreal,” said Johnstone. “The level was also good. It would have been nice if some more countries would have shown up but I definitely had some fun out there.”
Liu, who finished fourth at the Vancouver Olympics and third at the Worlds in La Molina, dominated the women’s field with her extreme airtime. Although Liu’s run, consisting of a backside air, frontside 540 stale, backside 540 mute to frontside 720 indy nearly matched that of her teammates, it was her amplitude that made the difference.
“I’m very proud of winning the first ever World Cup event in my home country. I’m very happy,” said Liu.
After the season’s second halfpipe contest, a total of five Chinese girls are leading the World Cup ranking with Cai sitting in first, having collected 1,800 points so far. She is followed by Liu (1,000), Xu Chen (810), Zhifeng Sun (800) and Li (730). On the men’s side, Johnstone shares the top spot with Saas-Fee winner Tore Holvik of Norway (both 1,000), while Japan’s Ryo Aono and Zhang breathing down their necks with 800 points each.
The LG Snowboard FIS World Cup circuit now heads to Canada. Quebec’s Stoneham Mountain Resort will host the next stop Feb. 17-20 for a snowboard cross, a halfpipe contest and a parallel giant slalom. In addition, the first World Cup title winner will be crowned after the season’s last big air.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
LG Snowboard FIS World Cup
Yabuli, China – Feb. 13, 2011
Halfpipe
Women:
1. Jiayu Liu (CHN)
2. Xuetong Cai (CHN)
3. Shuang Li (CHN)
Men:
1. Nathan Johnstone (AUS)
2. Yiwei Zhang (CHN)
3. Wancheng Shi (CHN)