At the Halfpipe World Cup in Sapporo, held from 6 to 8 March 2026 at Ban-K resort, several YONEX riders finished at the front of the field. Sena Tomita took silver in the women’s event, Sara Shimizu bronze. In the men’s event, Olympic champion Yuto Totsuka won. The final on 8 March was cancelled because of persistent snow; official results were taken from the qualification on 6 March.

Silver and bronze for Sena Tomita and Sara Shimizu

The official women’s ranking matches the qualification. Mitsuki Ono won with 87.00 points. Sena Tomita was second on 78.50, Sara Shimizu third on 78.00. Rise Kudo finished fourth on 77.50 and Ruki Tomita fifth on 67.50. The top five were all from Japan, four of them on YONEX.

• 1. Mitsuki Ono (JPN) – 87.00
• 2. Sena Tomita (JPN, YONEX) – 78.50
• 3. Sara Shimizu (JPN, YONEX) – 78.00
• 4. Rise Kudo (JPN, YONEX) – 77.50
• 5. Ruki Tomita (JPN, YONEX) – 67.50

According to FIS, Sena’s second place was her fourth podium of the season, after third in Buttermilk and second at the Copper Mountain World Cup in December. For Sara, then 16, it was her best World Cup result of the season to that point; she had previously finished tenth at the Laax Open in January. Two weekends earlier she had won the Snow League event in Aspen. At the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games she had finished fourth.

A home win for Yuto Totsuka

In the men’s event Yuto Totsuka won with 91.50 points from his second qualification run. Valentino Guseli (Australia) was second on 89.00, Ryusei Yamada third on 85.50. Ruka Hirano finished fourth on 78.00 and Riku Takeda tenth on 63.00. No other YONEX riders were in the men’s field.

• 1. Yuto Totsuka (JPN, YONEX) – 91.50
• 2. Valentino Guseli (AUS) – 89.00
• 3. Ryusei Yamada (JPN) – 85.50
• 4. Ruka Hirano (JPN, YONEX) – 78.00
• 10. Riku Takeda (JPN, YONEX) – 63.00

Totsuka, the Milano Cortina 2026 halfpipe Olympic champion, recorded his tenth World Cup win and his second of the season after the U.S. Grand Prix at Buttermilk. According to FIS, he became only the second rider, after Scotty James, to reach at least ten halfpipe World Cup victories. After Sapporo he led the discipline standings on 396 points, ahead of Guseli on 350. The men’s podium resembled the Olympic one: Totsuka first, Yamada third, with an Australian in between — Guseli in Sapporo rather than James.

A home World Cup after the Games

The contest, also referred to by FIS as the Sapporo Open, was the first halfpipe World Cup after the Milano Cortina Games. Ono, the Olympic bronze medallist, took her second World Cup win of the season after Buttermilk. In the women’s discipline standings, Rise Kudo, after fourth in Sapporo, sat on 296 points, just four behind leader Gaon Choi, who did not start in Sapporo.

Results had to be taken from qualification because continuing snow left the Ban-K pipe sticky and unrideable for the final scheduled on Sunday. Twenty-three riders in all — eight women and 15 men, according to the official results lists — had been due to contest the finals.