On January 10, the main competition of the 12th Red Bull Nanshan Open was held at Beijing Nanshan Ski Resort. The event attracted 36 top male and female snowboarders from 11 countries, including Finland, Norway, the United States, and China. In the women’s division, 21-year-old Finnish beauty Merika Enne topped the other eight female riders to claim the championship, while defending champion Kristiina Nisula of Finland and American rider Michelle Zeller secured second and third places respectively. In the men’s preliminary round, 22-year-old Finnish rookie Nuutti Niemela temporarily ranked first, advancing to the men’s finals on January 11 along with 14 other riders. Wang Lei, known as the “first Chinese snowboarder,” also made it to the finals with steady performance.
Chinese female competitor Zhu Hong during the 12th Red Bull Nanshan Open
“Today’s competition had many highlights. We saw the top two in the women’s division exchange the lead multiple times, with champion Merika making a perfect comeback as the last rider of the day. In the men’s division, Nuutti, who was previously not favored at all, took first place in the preliminaries. His runs were high in both execution and difficulty, making the win well-deserved,” said head judge Itzik in a post-event interview. “Actually, the start of the day wasn’t ideal, with wind and soft snow affecting performance, but conditions improved in the afternoon. Riders were able to speed up and showcase their signature moves, landing various high-difficulty tricks smoothly. I believe tomorrow’s competition will be even wilder.”
On January 11, the 15 riders who advanced to the finals will compete in the morning to determine the top six, who will then battle for the championship in the afternoon super final. At 13:05, the event will be broadcast live on Hunan Economic TV, Qinghai Satellite TV, Hebei Economic TV, Jiangxi TV Urban Channel, Shandong TV Qilu Channel, Hainan TV News Channel, Anhui TV Variety Channel, Xinjiang TV Economic & Life Channel, and Hunan TV International Channel. Sina.com and PPTV will provide simultaneous online streaming.