Thanks to his years of martial arts training, Yang's advantage in bodily coordination and core strength has enabled him to adapt quickly to the freestyle discipline, having landed neat 1920 tricks in training together with Su, with his next target set on cracking the 2160 barrier.

"The past year's training has been really helpful," Yang said of his fast progress from last year's 41st-place finish at Shougang. "We had a very solid offseason fitness program and an airbag training camp, we then had another effective preseason camp at Saas-Fee in the Swiss Alps, where I practiced and improved my tricks."

"I still have room for improvement in developing my trick difficulty and variety. I am looking forward to throwing some 2160 tricks in competition as well. I won't push it, though. I will take it a step at a time for solid progression."

Despite his crushing disappointment on his home slope, Su, who shot to fame by winning two medals, including a silver in slopestyle, at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, will come back stronger, said his long-term mentor Sato.

"He's still recovering, yet we still tried to win tonight with two 1980 tricks, and he could have if he landed them," Sato said of Su's buildup for the Beijing leg after taking a monthlong break to recover from a shoulder injury.

"He's really sad now, this is a wall we have to break through all the way to the Olympic Games," said Sato, who's been coaching Su since 2018.

In the earlier top-eight women's final, Britain's teen sensation Mia Brookes landed a stunning third-run trick, following a successful first run and a false landing in the second, to claim her first World Cup title in Beijing with a winning total of 179.75 points.

Japan's Mari Fukada finished second, scoring 176.75 points, with two-time Olympic champion Anna Gasser taking third with 169.00.