Gu Ailing tops qualifying to lead three Chinese competitors into women's halfpipe final at FIS Freeski World Cup

China's two-time Olympic gold medalist Gu Ailing cruised into the women's halfpipe final at the Chongli leg of the FIS Freeski World Cup on home snow at the Secret Garden Resort in Zhangjiakou, leading a strong showing for the host nation.

A total of 26 skiers lined up for the qualifying round, with China fielding the quintet of Gu, Li Fanghui, Zhang Kexin, Liu Yishan and Zhou Siyu. The format called for two runs each, with the best score counting, and only the top 10 advancing to Saturday's final.

Gu laid down a clean, stylish pass for 86.50 points on her first run to sit second on the leaderboard. Li went even bigger, posting a score of 88.25 to take the early lead, while Zhang earned 80.25 to rank fifth.

On her second attempt, Gu raised the difficulty level, linking higher amplitude and more technical tricks. The judge rewarded her with a stunning 92.75, the highest score of the day, to snatch top spot in qualifying and the number one seed for the final.

Li finished the session in third place overall, while Zhang remained fifth, sending all three skiers into the medal round.

The other two Chinese contenders, Liu and Zhou, ended up 11th and 15th, respectively, to miss the cut.