Ryo Aono prevails in men’s Halfpipe Final at Burton Canadian Open
Japan’s Ryo Aono met success at 2012 Burton Canadian Open in Calgary, Alberta, after putting on a phenomenal performance to claim top honours in men’s Halfpipe Final that went down at the Canada Olympic Park on Friday night, February 3.
While the Japanese rider secured first place, Finland’s Markus Malin settled for runner-up place while his fellow countryman Janne Korpi rounded out the top three to complete the podium.
As the 16-man men’s Halfpipe Final got underway under lights on Friday, courtesy of sport’s inclusion to the Winter Olympics in the previous year, the 21-year-old Aono asserted his dominance in the contest through an outstanding Run 2, throwing a Cab 1080,
front-side 540, back-side 900 tail grab, front-side 1080 and Cab 720 to earn a 90.13 for the effort. The lead held until the end to eventually earn him the highest spot on the podium.
“I am so very happy right now to have won,” Aono stated in his post-Final interview. “I have been to Calgary before but this is my first Open here. It was great with so many people watching and giving off good vibes.”
The 24-year-old Malin had enjoyed the lead during the first runs of the Final after posting an 86.60 on the scoreboard with a run that comprised of a huge front-side air, back-side 540 mute, front-side double cork 1080, Cab 720, front-side 540 melon and
a back-side 900. However, he failed to improve his score in the subsequent runs and thus ended up losing his position to Aono.
The 26-year-old Korpi was also quite impressive during the Finals. He managed to collect an 85.38 for a solid Run 1, which featured a front-side air, back-side 900 mute, front0side 1080 tail grab, Cab 1080 tail grab and an alley-oop back-side rodeo 540 nose
grab. The score turned out to be sufficient to put him just one place below his compatriot Malin on the podium.
With his victory in the men’s Halfpipe contest at Burton Canadian Open, Aono not only moved to first place in the Burton Global Open Series Rankings with 1700 points, but also risen to first place in TTR Men’s Halfpipe World Tour Rankings with 609.46 points.
It was indeed turning out to be a memorable year for the Japanese rider as he prevailed at Burton New Zealand Open in August and recently won a bronze in SuperPipe at the Winter X Games Aspen 2012 in Aspen, Colorado.
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