Winter Games: 'Stoked' Sheehan qualifies second

New Zealand freeskier Lyndon Sheehan will seek to spoil the Canadian party at the Winter Games freeski halfpipe finals today.

Sheehan qualified second overall for the world cup event at Cardrona Alpine Resort following yesterday's qualifiers.

He will tackle two Canadians, top qualifier Mike Riddle and third qualifier Justin Dorey, in the finals, and will be joined by fellow New Zealander Beau-James Wells.

Sheehan produced a dazzling first run yesterday that was awarded 85.6 by the judges. He said he tried something new for his hometown competition.

''I'm pretty stoked. I've been trying a switch left 1080 in training over at Breckenridge and this was the first time I put it into a comp run,'' Sheehan said.

''I was able to go nice and high and my grabs went well. For the final, I'll just focus on laying down a more solid version of this run and hold those grabs for longer.''

Wells qualified fourth out of the second heat with his top score of 81.8.

Riddle and Dorey won the AFP world championships in 2012 and 2011 respectively, and reproduced that form in Cardrona's Olympic halfpipe.

Riddle won the first heat with his opening run score of 85.8 featuring a right 900 tail, left 900 reverse Japan, left ally-oop flatspin 3 safety, switch left 900 mute and switch left ally-oop flatspin 5 safety.

Dorey's first-run score of 85.0 won heat two with a right 900 tail into a left double-cork 1260 Japan, air-to-fakie, switch left 720 Japan, left ally-oop flatspin 540 safety and a left flare safety.

In the only women's heat, American Angeli Vanlaanen qualified first with an outstanding score of 91.0, starting with back-to-back left and right 540 safety into a left 720 safety, switch right 360, mute grab and finishing with a left ally-oop 360 safety.

She finished a full three points ahead of Japan's Ayana Onozuka, with Switzerland's Nina Ragettli third on 85.2.

The other qualifiers included New Zealand's Janina Kuzma and American stars Jamie Crane-Mauzy, who finished second in halfpipe on the 2012-13 AFP World Tour, and Devin Logan, who won all three freeskiing events at the 2011 Winter Games and was making her first competition appearance after a long-term injury.

Amy Sheehan, Lyndon's sister who skis for Australia, took the final qualifying place to ensure a double family celebration.

Early fog meant a slight delay to the start of yesterday's qualifying runs.

The halfpipe finals are at Cardrona today.

Tomorrow's busy schedule includes the men's giant slalom at Coronet Peak, the qualifying rounds of the snowboard slopestyle at Cardrona, and the opening day of the curling in Naseby.

 

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