HOENGSEONG, South Korea - Canadian Jeff Batchelor bounced back from a poor first run to win silver in the halfpipe at the Snowboard World Championships on Friday.
Japan's Ryoh Aono won in dominating fashion, posting two electrifying runs. France's Mathieu Crepel, nicknamed "Little Monkey" for his trademark agility, had to settle for third after Batchelor knocked him down the podium.
China's Liu Jiayu came back from a hard fall on the first run to claim the women's title, ahead of Australian Holly Crawford and Poland's Paulina Ligocka.
Crepel opened with back-to-back 1080s - a trick that involves making three full rotations in the air - for 43.3 points. That left him second at the close of the first round, with Finland's Ilkka-Eemeli Laari third with 41.9 points.
But Batchelor soared past him in the second run with a 44.4-point performance.
His medal run featured a front nine flip, a back nine flip, a front five flip followed by front and back side air, ending with a back ten to impress the judges and large crowd.
"It's been quite a long journey. I never had thought I would make it this far. Yesterday in qualifiers, I wasn't feeling too good, falling and having flat landings," said the 20-year-old from Oakville, Ont.
