WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Defending Olympic champion Han Xiaopeng of China and this year’s top jumper, Anton Kushnir of Belarus, have both failed to make the final in men’s aerials.
Kushnir won four times this season but fell on his second jump of qualifying Monday night at Cypress Mountain to drop out of the top 12. Han also fell on his second jump to finish 21st.
Finals are Thursday night, where China’s Jia Zongyang will go last, after finishing first in qualifying with a score of 242.52.
All three Canadians – Steve Omischl, Warren Shouldice and Kyle Nissen – advanced, as did Ryan St. Onge and Jeret “Speedy” Peterson of the United States. Peterson nailed two solid jumps, giving him the chance to try his quintuple-twisting “Hurricane” jump on Thursday.