News

Kadono Takes Beijing Title

Yuki Kadono has won the Shaun White Air & Style Beijing competition in the Olympic Bird's Nest stadium, with Peetu Piiroinen of Finland and Ståle Sandbech of Norway in second and third.

The 16-year-old is the youngest winner of Air & Style since Shaun White, Yuki Kadono received the coveted Air & Style Ring of Glory and 1,000 World Snowboard Tour Ranking points and was so happy he could hardly believe it.

"It is like a dream, I still cannot believe it," was Yuki's concise summary of events.

His winning run of 97.67 points consisted of a Backside Triple Cork 1440 Mute Grab in his third run of the Superfinal. Yuki also took home the Red Bull Airtime award. It was Ståle Sandbech's second time in third place, and even though he hoped for more, he was still very happy with his podium result, adding: "the podium is always a nice place to be."

To second placed Air & Style veteran Peetu Piiroinen, Yuki's win came as no surprise. "Already in summer I knew we would be watching out for Yuki this season. I congratulate him on his win," he said.

Smoe clear favourites fell on Saturday night, including reigning Big Air World Champion Seppe Smits who didn't make it into round 3, losing his head-to-head battle with Austrian Mathias Weissenbacher, who surprised by making it into the finals with a steady Backside Double Rodeo 1080 Indy.

Roope Tonteri of Finlan is currently leading the Big Air ranking; dropping in on the day was all he needed to secure his number one position. Yuki Kadono made it into the top 10 of the overall ranking with his win and secured a 16th position on the Big Air ranking. Ståle Sandbech is now just behind Roope on the Big Air list in second.

The battle for the World Snowboard Tour Big Air Title will have 2 more chapters on the 6-Star level, with the O'Neill Evolution from 15-19 of January in Davos, Switzerland followed by the World Snowboard Tour Big Air crowning taking place at the 20th anniversary of the Billabong Air & Style in Innsbruck-Tirol.

Superfinal Results:
1. Kadono, Yuki (JPN) 97.67
2. Piiroinen, Peetu (FIN) 93.33
3. Sandbech, Ståle (NOR) 92.00
4. Weissenbacher, Mathias (AUT) 34.33