Japan sweep women’s Big Air podium in Secret Garden, China grabs men’s one-two on home snow
Nov 29, 2025·Snowboard Park & Pipe)
Teenage phenom Mari Fukada led the way as Japan swept the women’s podium at the first Big Air World Cup of the 2025/26 FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe season, while reigning Olympic Big Air champion Su Yiming stepped up in front of a huge home crowd in Secret Garden (CHN) to win his first World Cup in two years.
Yiming enjoyed a hero’s welcome in the landing zone following his third run victory lap in Secret Garden (CHN) on Saturday after topping the men’s field with a score of 174.50.
Compatriot Ge Chunyu was runner-up on 159.50, while current Big Air World Champion Ryoma Kimata (JPN) took third place with 158.50.
Twenty-one-year-old Su was able to enjoy a relaxed frontside 360 on his final run of the day, after already locking in victory with his first run score of 86.25 for a backside 1980 nosegrab, while he followed up in run two with a contest-best score of 88.25 for his switch backside 1980 melon.
Saturday’s victory was Su’s first since winning the Beijing Big Air World Cup on 02 December 2023, and marked a return to form for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Big Air champion after a difficult 2024/25 season without any top-five finishes in Big Air.
“Then after a whole summer coming back here to my hometown, this feels (like) a lot of pressure for me. One of the first comps of the season, and my family and my fans, everybody showed up. I just wanted to do my best and put down the best show and I’m really grateful that I could put down all the tricks that I wanted to do.”
Su, who ended the 2024/25 season with a 2025 World Championships silver medal in Slopestyle, said he was thrilled for runner-up Ge and the Chinese snowboarding team as they prepare for an Olympic year.
Competing in his first career World Cup final, eventual runner-up Ge was in fifth place going into his third and final run of the competition before his backside 1980 mute earned him a score of 82.50 from the judges, giving him a total of 159.50 to propell him into second place ahead of reigning Big Air World Champion Ryoma Kimata of Japan. Ge also landed a competition-highlight frontside triple toedeo1440 mute in his second run.
Kimata settled for third place on Saturday, with his backside 1980 melon in run one and switch backside 1980 tailgrab in run three earning him a total score of 158.50.
In the women’s event, 18-year-old Mari Fukada led Japan’s podium sweep with a winning score of 156.75, followed by Reira Iwabuchi in second place with 145.75, and Miyabi Onitsuka rounding out the sweep with 141.50.
Fukada took an early lead with her first run, landing a switch backside dub 1080 mute that earned her 78.50 from the judges. After crashing the landing in her second run while attempting a frontside 720 tailgrab to melon, the 21-year-old stepped things up by a full rotation in run three, earning a 78.25 for a frontside 1080 tailgrab to melon in the last attempt of the afternoon to secure her fourth career World Cup victory.
“I’m really happy to start the World Cup season so well. Everyone is getting so good these days, so I’m happy I can compete with all of the girls,” she said.
Australia’s Tess Coady was fourth, followed by fellow Australian Meila Stalker in fifth place. While the eight-woman final feautured four riders from Japan and three from Australia, Beijing 2022 Slopestyle bronze medalist Coady faced tough competition against the powerhouse Japanese team and finished just outside of the podium picture.
Fukada’s win on Saturday follows a stellar 2024/25 season which saw her tied with Big Air Crystal Globe winner Mia Brookes (GBR) at season’s end with 305 points, but lost out on claiming the Globe trophy due to tiebreaking rules.
Fukada was also part of a Japanese Big Air podium sweep at the Engadin 2025 FIS Snowboard World Championships, taking bronze behind Iwabuchi while Kokomo Murase won gold. Murase finished sixth on Saturday.
The FIS Snowboard Park & Pipe World Cup will stay on in China next week, with another round of Big Air action slated to go down at the Beijing 2022 Olympic venue in Shougang Park between 5-6 December.
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