Snowboard Halfpipe Women & Men
On Thursday, the world's best pipe specialists lined up at the start of the LAAX Superpipe to secure one of the coveted spots for Saturday's night final. They were all full of praise for the perfect halfpipe. In the women's competition, the favorites made it through, including today's semifinal winner Mitsuki Ono (JPN), who catapulted herself highest out of the pipe, and 2021 LAAX OPEN winner Queralt Castellet (SPA) in fourth place.
As expected, Ruka Hirano (1st/JPN) and two-time LAAX OPEN winner Scotty James (AUS) are among the top 12 men who will compete in the night final on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. James is looking forward to Saturday evening: "The final here under the floodlights and in front of a huge crowd is always something very special." Waiting for him is his long-time Laax rival Yuto Totskua (3rd place), who impressed with his amplitude. Exceptional talent Valentino Guseli (AUS) is the only snowboarder to qualify for the finals in both slopestyle and halfpipe. Young Korean Chaeun Lee (5th place) surprised everyone with his back-to-back 1440s. Jan Scherrer (SUI) and Andre Höflich (GER) will also be competing in Saturday's night finals.
Men's Slopestyle Freeski Qualification
It's a historic day for freeskiers, as they are taking part in the FIS World Cup in LAAX for the first time. Today, they entered the fray for the first time in the men's slopestyle qualification. Matej Svancer (AUT) and world champion Andri Ragettli (SUI) are the winners of their respective heats. Matej is in good shape and seems to be defying the laws of physics. Top favorites such as overall World Cup leader Birk Ruud (NOR), Colby Stevenson (USA), Olympic champion Alex Hall (USA), and Max Moffatt (CAN) also made it to the finals. High-flyer Birk: "It's an honor to be here in beautiful LAAX, I love it. It's so cool that we freeskiers are now allowed to compete in the World Cup here. It's even cooler that I made it to the final! See you on Sunday!" The Swiss team has a good chance of reaching the podium with Fabian Bösch, Valentin Morel, and local hero Ragettli.
Further information is available at laax.com/open and laax.com, as well as in the LAAX app.
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LAAX OPEN
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