Chinese snowboarder Cai Xuetong defended her halfpipe title at the Sierra Nevada 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships on Saturday.

The 2015 world champion nailed the victory in her first run which earned 90.75 points. "I'm so excited. There are no other words. I'm just so happy. I had one run in mind, and I put it down. That was the goal for the day," she said.

Cai is the second woman in history to have defended the halfpipe world championship since Doriane Vidal of France won in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

Haruna Matsumoto of Japan and 2015 bronze medalist Clemence Grimal of France rounded out the podium.

The 22-year-old Scotty James from Australia, 2017 World Cup winner, scored a massive 95.75 points in the first run for the men's gold.

Olympic champion Iouri Podladtchikov and Pat Burgener, both of Switzerland, finished second and third, respectively.

Sapporo Asian Winter Games gold meadlist Zhang Yiwei from China was fifth out of 10 finalists.

source: Xinhua