Burov beats home favourite Kushnir to continue stellar season

Belarusian star Kushnir was leading the way on 118.10 points until Russia’s Burov – who became aerials world champion in Utah earlier this month – laid down a near-perfect back double full, full, full to take gold with 120.36 and leap to the top of the overall aerial World Cup standings with two races remaining.

The man he replaces atop the overall rankings is compatriot Stanislav Nikitin, who came third on the day in Minsk and now trails Burov by 16 points.

In the women’s aerials it was a Chinese clean sweep of the podium as overall World Cup leader Xu Mengtao extended her lead atop the rankings by taking gold on 87.77 points.

Behind Xu Mengtao in second was the other Xu of China to make the finals, as Xu Sicun put down a smooth back lay, full on her final jump that earned a score of 80.33, giving the 26-year-old her first podium in over five years.

Capping off the sweep in third place was 17-year-old Shao Qi, who earned her second podium of the season and stays second in the overall standings.

Sportsbeat 2019