China's Su advances to slopestyle final, birthday showdown awaits

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Beijing 2022 silver medalist Su Yiming advanced to the men's snowboard slopestyle final at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday, after the qualification round was brought forward by one day due to forecast adverse weather.

New Zealand's Dane Menzies led qualification with 86.06 points, followed by Norway's Marcus Kleveland on 81.86 and Beijing 2022 bronze medalist Mark McMorris of Canada with 81.81.

Under the two-run format, riders counted their best score. Su posted 70.83 points in his opening run and improved to 72.78 in his second, finishing eighth overall to secure one of the 12 final berths.

"I really enjoyed competing today. This is the mindset I should have," Su said. "It's different from big air, where I felt more pressure."

"Today the main goal was to make the final and better understand the judges' scoring criteria so I can prepare more precisely," he added.

Su earlier claimed bronze in big air at the Games as the defending Olympic champion in that event, having taken silver in slopestyle at Beijing 2022. If the schedule remains unchanged, the slopestyle final on February 18 will fall on Su's 22nd birthday.

China's Ge Chunyu, who competed with a cracked rib sustained in big air, finished 28th.

"Breathing hurts, and I couldn't attempt the bigger rotations," the Olympic debutant said. "But even being injured, I never thought about withdrawing. Being able to compete on the Olympic stage is something I'm proud of."

Fellow Chinese Yang Wenlong, also competing in his first Olympic Games, placed 22nd after falling on his final run.

"I landed a bit short on the last jump and tried to recover too quickly," Yang said. "There's still a lot for me to improve on, especially in the rail section." ■