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SAAS-FEE, Switzerland (Nov. 5) - Halfpipers dropped into their first World Cup competition of the season Thursday and none other than Australian Torah Bright and Kazuhiro Kokubo of Japan took the wins in Switzerland. The U.S. was represented in the finals by X Games silver medalist Kevin Pearce (Norwich, VT) who finished 12th.
"I was so glad that we had a good weather today, it’s much more fun then. I had to get used to the pipe first, but then I could demonstrate some good runs," Bright said.
With clean runs in the superpipe, Kokubo found himself surprised to be on top of the podium.
"I didn’t expect to win here against the strong international riders. But it’s a great feeling and an honour definitely," Kokubo said.
Xuetong Cai of China finished second for the women, followed by Sophie Rodriguez of France in third.
"I felt really good today. Unfortunately some of my hits were too short, but I’ll keep on practicing and hope to perform a great run at the Olympics in a couple of months," Cai said.
In the men's competition Mathieu Crepel of France was second and Peetu Piiroinen of Finland was third.
"It was a great day in a great pipe. It’s really good to be back after dealing with two injuries within the past six months," Crepel said.
Now that he's done with the World Cup, Pearce, along with the rest of the U.S. halfpipe scene, are set to compete for a spot on the Olympic team during the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix. The tour kicks off in Copper, CO Dec. 12.
For complete from Saas-Fee results click here.
