Qi and Jia lead’s China’s 1-2 in men’s aerials qualifications
Feb 15, 2022·Freestyle
Teammates in one event and competitors in another, Qi Guangpu and Jia Zongyang (CHN) took the two top spots in men's aerials qualifying at Genting Snow Park on Tuesday.
The pair advanced directly to the final and each has his sights set on a gold medal to complement the silver they won in mixed team aerials.
Qi earned the highest score with 127.88 for his outstanding back full-full full-full, with Jia next with a mark of 125.67.
The top six qualified out of the first round, while the rest of the field jumped a second time for the remaining six spots in the final.
Three USA athletes will be in the hunt for a medal after Eric Loughran (USA) and Christopher Lillis (USA) qualified on their first jump, while compatriot Justin Schoenefeld fought through after a second jump. He will be hoping for better in the finals.
“I should have competed better," Schoenefeld said. "My landings weren’t that good.”
One of the youngest competitors in the field, 18-year-old Miha Fontaine (CAN) was one spot and 0.44 points short of reaching the final.
His father, Nicolas, silver medallist at the Olympic Winter Games Albertville 1992 when aerials was a demonstration sport, advised him to lay down a flawless, TV-friendly jump on his final effort because this would be the replay to air for years at home if he did not advance.
“Last night I called him and he said, ‘Do a good jump for the camera because that is the one thing that stays after the Olympics’. I could not have done it better," Fontaine said.
Noe Roth and Pirmin Werner of Switzerland, Stanislau Hladchenka of Belarus, as well as 2018 Olympic gold medallist Oleksandr Abramenko and Oleksandr Okipniuk of Ukraine also advanced into top-12.
Surprising one of the biggest contendesr for the Olympic gold medal Maxim Burov (ROC) did not make a cut after he failed to land his first jump. He also struggled with the landing on his second attempt, for which he only received 113.28 points and unexpected 16th position on the day.
Without Maxim Burov in final top-12, ROC will be hoping for good performances from Maxim’s older brother Ilia Burov as well as Stanislav Nikitin, who both qualified into finals in respective 9th and 10th place.
The men's aerials final takes place on Wednesday 15 February, starting at 19:00.
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