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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese snowboarders Cai Xuetong and Zhang Yiwei ranked first and second respectively in the women's and men's qualifiers for the halfpipe event at the Sierra Nevada 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships on Friday.
Cai, 2015 world champion, notched the best score of 94.75 points in the women's qualifier, while 2013 world champion Arielle Gold of the United States came close with 92.50. American Maddie Mastro placed third with 92.00.
Chinese Liu Jiayu, Sapporo Asian Winter Games medalist and one of the top favorites for the podium, ranked seventh with a tiny disadvantage of 0.75 points next to Hikaru Oe of Japan.
Scotty James of Australia, 22-year-old 2017 World Cup title winner, topped the men's field with 92.25 points. Sapporo Asian Winter Games gold winner Zhang Yiwei followed as runner-up with 90.00 and Olympic bronze medalist Taku Hiraoka of Japan qualified as third. Both will have what it takes to deny James his second consecutive title.
And there are even more heavy hitters set to give it a shot for podiums. The pack will be reshuffled for the finals of the best six women and 10 men, which are slated to take place on Saturday night at 8 pm CET, 3 am on Sunday of Beijing Time.
