Eratuli wins snowboard World Cup event

Eratuli wins snowboard World Cup event{mosimage}MOSCOW – Jukka Eratuli overcame a knee injury to lead Finland’s 1-2 finish in a Snowboard World Cup Big Air event Sunday.

Eratuli, who torn his right knee ligament during the season opener in Klagenfurt, Austria, in December, was third after two runs in the final. But he received 25.6 points for his final jump _ a switch backside 720 _ for a total of 50.4 and first place.

Juuso Laivisto came in second with a total of 50.1 points for his best two runs.

Austria’s Florian Mausser, fifth before the final run, performed a Cab 10 jump on his final attempt to collect a total of 49.9 points and finish third for his first podium place this season.

World champion Risto Mattila of Finland, the winner in Klagenfurt, skipped the event. He’s in the United States, preparing for the world championships in Whistler, British Columbia, on Jan. 15-23.

Eratuli moved atop the Big Air standings with 1,260 points after two of six events. Mattila is second with 1,000, and Frederik Austbo of Norway, Laivisto and Mausser are tied for third with 800.

-The Associated Press