Ayana Onozuka wins first Dew Tour freeski superpipe final

The first champion of this year’s Dew Tour Breckenridge was crowned Friday in the women’s freeski superpipe final. In recent years, this is an event that has been dominated by Maddie Bowman, but with the Olympic gold medalist out due to injury, the field was left wide open for any of the six ladies who qualified for the final.

PHOTO GALLERY: Women’s Freeski Superpipe Final

Japan’s Ayana Onozuka has consistently been qualifying for the superpipe final at Dew Tour for several years but was still in search of her first win. When Ayana dropped in for her first run, Cassie Sharpe held the lead with an 86.40, but Ayana was able to supplant her with a well executed run that started off with a big straight air mute grab, followed by an alley-oop, left 540 mute, right 540 safety, left 720 safety, switch right 720 safety, right alley-oop 360 and switch right 540 safety.

Ayana Onozuka’s strong riding carried her to a Dew Tour win. (Photo: Topher Baldwin)

Ayana’s run was enough to keep her in the lead after the first set of runs, leaving her as the one to beat. Cassie Sharpe landed back-to-back 540s and back-to-back flairs and was able to improve her run enough to knock her score up a bit, but still sat second behind Ayana. After a fall on her first run, Brita Sigourney came through on her second run, keeping up good height throughout the run and landing some solid tricks that included a left 900 safety. The run moved Brita up into podium position ahead of Janina Kuzma. Top qualifier Annalisa Drew also had a chance to dethrone Ayana but lost speed near the top on her final run, keeping Ayana, Cassie and Brita on the podium.

Next up in the halfpipe will be the men. The men’s freeski superpipe semifinal will take place later today (Friday) at 2:00 p.m. ET, with the final coming up Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. The final will be streamed live on DewTour.com.

Cassie Sharpe put down two solid runs to earn 2nd place. (Photo: Topher Baldwin)

The superpipe podium: Cassie Sharpe (left), Ayana Onozuka (center), Brita Sigourney (right). (Photo: Chris Ortiz)

Final Results
1. Ayana Onozuka, 89.40
2. Cassie Sharpe, 87.40
3. Brita Sigourney, 85.00
4. Janina Kuzma, 80.40
5. Roz Groenewoud, 70.20
6. Annalisa Drew, 48.20

 

HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

 

AYANA ONOZUKA, WINNING RUN

 

CASSIE SHARPE, 2ND-PLACE RUN