Choi makes it three in a row as James claims fifth Laax Open win
Jan 17, 2026·Snowboard Park & Pipe
Teenage phenom Gaon Choi (KOR) topped her third consecutive Halfpipe World Cup on Saturday in Laax (SUI) as reigning men’s World Champion Scotty James won the men’s event for a record fifth time to lead the first Oceania podium sweep in FIS history.
Seventeen-year-old Choi was the first rider to secure a win under the Laax lights on Saturday after she brushed off a heavy fall in her first attempt to top the women’s leaderboard with a second run score of 92.50.
Wearing the leader’s yellow bib, Choi began her winning run with a switch backside 720 stalefish, then a backside 900 stalefish, a frontside 1080 melon, a switch frontside 720 melon, and finished with a front 720 indy on her final hit.
The 17-year-old admitted the fall in her first run had left her shaken.
“The first run, front end was so sore … my body was so sick,” she said.
Japan’s Rise Kudo was runner-up on 82.75, while Cai Xuetong (CHN) was third on 75.25.
For Choi, Saturday’s win is her third consecutive victory after she won the discipline season opener in Secret Garden (CHN) in December, followed by the Copper World Cup just before the Christmas break.
“I’m so proud of me. I want to work harder,” said Choi.
Saturday’s results are also a repeat of the Secret Garden podium in December, making it the second time this season that Kudo was runner-up behind Choi while Cai was third. Cai’s performance on Saturday is also her 35th World Cup podium.
In the men’s final, four-time men’s World Champion Scotty James (AUS) saved the best for last to put down the highest-score run of the evening of 98.75.
The 31-year-old was the top qualifier going into Saturday’s final and just one of four men to land their first runs as the rest of the 12 finalists struggled to land top-to-bottom runs.
New Zealander Campbell Melville Ives briefly took the lead with a spectacular second run score of 91.00 to become the first athlete in halfpipe history to land two triple corks in a completed competition run.
James responded by improving on his first run score of 84.00 by a whopping 14.75 points, relegating 19-year-old Meville Ives to second place.
Valentino Guseli gave Australia its second podium of the night in third place with his first run score of 80.25.
James began his winning run with a switch frontside triple cork 1440 indy, then a frontside double cork 1260 stalefish, a backside double cork 1080 stalefish, a switch backside double cork 1440 mute, and ended with a backside double cork 1260 mute on the sixth and final hit.
The 31-year-old said he had been working on a new run in the lead-up to the Laax Open.
“I’ve been working on some things and this year is a tough year. It’s an amazing competition.
Based on the quality and range of tricks that some of his peers landed on Saturday, James said he is looking forward to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games beginning in February, which will be his sixth Games.
Defending men’s Olympic Halfpipe champion Ayumu Hirano (JPN) finished in 12th place after he did not start his second attempt following a heavy crash in his first run.
The Laax Open is the last Halfpipe World Cup of the 2025/26 season before the Milano Cortina 2026 Games. The tour will resume in Ban-K (JPN) in March.
After five events, Choi leads the women’s discipline standings on 300 points thanks to her three consecutive victories. Japan’s Yuto Totsuka leads the men’s standings on 296 points after Saturday’s seventh-place finish, his Aspen victory last week, and his two runner-up finishes in December.
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