AERIALS:

Nina Li, Anton Kushnir win Gabriel aerials, secure crystal globes

Jan. 30, 2010     ►Photos: Anton Kushnir and Nina Li savor crystal; Genevieve Tougas of Canada, bottom (Mike Ridewood, CFSA)

MONT GABRIEL, Quebec — Anton Kushnir of Belarus and Nina Li of China won the men's and women's aerials events on Saturday at the Canada Post Grand Prix World Cup, also securing the World Cup overall titles.

In women's aerials, Li led China to a 1-2 finish with her second victory this season, scoring 200.57 points in the final. Shuang Cheng was second at 184.88 and Assoli Slivets of Belarus third at 181.08.

For the first time in history, no Canadian entries qualified for the finals.

Sabrina Guerin of Laval, Que., was the top Canadian in the preliminary round, placing 13th. The top 10 advance to the finals. Genevieve Tougas of St-Hubert, Que., was 18th and Laurence Allard-Riendeau of Montreal finished 19th.

"It's always disappointing not make the final, especially at home," said Guerin, 24, who equalled a personal-best World Cup result earlier this season with a seventh place in China. "But I felt I executed a solid jump with a good landing, so I'm OK with that. But overall I should be doing better this season."

In men's aerials, Kushnir earned his third consecutive World Cup win, totalling 263.55 points. Guangpu Qi of China took the silver at 236.97 and Renato Ulrich of Switzerland was third at 215.42.

Eighteen-year-old Travis Gerrits of Milton, Ont., was 14th in the preliminaries for his best result this season in three World Cup appearances. Steve Omischl of Thunder Bay, Ont., tuning up for next month's Olympics, was 16th and Jonathan Vellner of Red Deer, Alta., placed 22nd.

"My competition jump was my best of the day," said Gerrits. "In training I was struggling a bit with my landings. I did a harder jump than I had planned because the conditions were ideal so this was another very good experience for me."

Li won the crystal globe for aerials with 436 overall points, with Xinxin Guo second and Mengtao Xu third for a Chinese sweep.

On the men’s side, Kushnir ended Omischl’s hold on the crystal globe, taking the overall title with 540 points, ahead of Qi and Zongyang Jia. Warren Shouldice was eighth and Omischl ninth in the overall rankings.  SRC

— The Canadian Press contributed to this report

Mont Gabriel women’s World Cup aerials results

Mont Gabriel men’s World Cup aerials results