Japanese snowboarders made a flying start to the park and pipe World Cup season on Saturday, with Reira Iwabuchi and Takeru Otsuka topping the podium at the Big Air Chur Festival in Switzerland.
Iwabuchi stomped the three highest-scoring runs of the evening in the women’s competition, while an equally dominant Otsuka claimed the men’s crown ahead of Ruki Tobita in a 1-2 finish for Japan.
The 20-year-old Iwabuchi scored 180.75 to finish 16 points clear of Austria’s two-time defending Olympic champion Anna Gasser, with Canada’s Jasmine Baird a further 33.50 back in third.
“Getting a good score on my first run gave me the momentum to keep things going on the second and third runs,” said Iwabuchi, who came fourth at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. “I was able to have a really good competition.”
Beijing bronze medalist Kokomo Murase finished fifth, one spot behind her younger sister Yura, while Chihiro Edamatsu was seventh.
The 21-year-old Otsuka, who came ninth in Beijing, claimed his first World Cup crown since December 2018 after stomping two near-flawless runs for a 166.50 total. He finished 26.50 clear of Tobita, with Switzerland’s Nick Puenter third on 125.50.
“The technique itself was less difficult than the one I did at the Beijing Olympics, but I was determined to perfect it,” Otsuka said. “I was really focused on landing cleanly.”
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES