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7:11pm - First-round leader Wise is last on the course and is already safely into the final. The two-time Olympic champion goes through the motions on his second run - he improves his score to 89.00, but not his position.
The final field is set and New Zealand has two in the mix. Join us on Saturday afternoon (NZ time) for live updates, as Nico and Miguel Porteous try to add to our medal haul at Beijing.
Blunck (USA) 92.00 1, N Porteous (NZ) 90.50 2, Irving (USA) 89.75 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 9... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 13... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 19
7:07pm - Legnavsky is up now, with Miguel Porteous already assured of a spot in the final now. The teenager isn't able to put together an improved run and will have to be satisfied with 19th.
Blunck (USA) 92.00 1, N Porteous (NZ) 90.50 2, Irving (USA) 89.75 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 9... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 13... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 19
7:04pm - American Irving improves to 89.75 and third spot.
Blunck (USA) 92.00 1, N Porteous (NZ) 90.50 2, Irving (USA) 89.75 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 9... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 13... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 19
7:02pm - Miguel Porteous is now on countdown for the final, with five skiers left and three spots available.
6:51pm - Harrington next, sitting in 13th with 69.25 and needs 70.75 to make the final. He's putting together a nice run, but overshoots a jump and lands badly on the edge of the pipe - that looked nasty!
Medical staff are rushing to him, as he lies in the middle of the pipe, where he came to rest. Harrington is on his feet, so that's good news, but he's missed out on the final.
Blunck (USA) 92.00 1, N Porteous (NZ) 90.50 2, Wise (USA) 88.25 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 9... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 13... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 19
6:48pm - Porteous can't improve on his opening run, so 81.00 will be his lot and he stays in ninth, with 12 to come.
Blunck (USA) 92.00 1, N Porteous (NZ) 90.50 2, Wise (USA) 88.25 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 9... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 13... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 19
6:46pm - Chinese teenager Sun edges past Legnavsky with 48.75, but can't challenge the top 12. Miguel Porteous next...
6:39pm - Frenchman Rolland also improves to 75.25 and 10th, bumping Harrington out of the finals spot.
6:36pm - Brit Kenworthy sits last after the opening round, but produces a much-improved effort of 70.75 to leap into 11th... Harrington is now on the bubble.
6:31pm - Nico Porteous is up next...
What can he produce to improve his qualifying position? His 90.50 puts him into second, so that will be more comforting for him.
Blunck (USA) 92.00 1, N Porteous (NZ) 90.50 2, Wise (USA) 88.25 2... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 9... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 11... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 17
6:28pm - Two-time world champion Aaron Blunck crashed out on his first run, but leaps to the top of the standings with 92.00. Everyone moves down one and the Kiwis are starting to sweat.
Blunck (USA) 92.00 1, Wise (USA) 88.25 2, Mackay (Canada) 87.25 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 8, N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 9... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 11... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 17
6:25pm - Canadian Bowman scores 85.50 and leapfrogs from seventh to third.
Wise (USA) 88.25 1, Mackay (Canada) 87.25 2, Bowman (Canada) 85.50 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 7... N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 8... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 10... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 16
6:20pm - Wise grabs the first-round lead with 88.25, sliding everyone else back a spot. Three of the four Kiwis are in finals spots, but maybe a little anxiety for Nico Porteous, who probably wants something more from the preliminary round.
Wise (USA) 88.25 1, Mackay (Canada) 87.25 2, Ferreira (USA) 84.25 3... M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 6... N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 8... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 10... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 16
6:19pm - Chinese Mao slots into 11th with his 62.75, bumping Legnavsky back a spot. Swiss Kreienbeuhl is on the bubble with 60.60, but double Olympic champion David Wise is the last skier...
6:14pm - Kiwi teenager Legnavsky is ready to go. He's 16, so the same age as Nico Porteous, when he won bronze four years ago.
He reaches the bottom of the pipe safely and scores 48.25, good for 14th so far.
Mackay (Canada) 87.25 1, Ferreira (USA) 84.25 2, Irving (USA) 83.25 3.. M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 5... N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 7... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 9... Legnavsky (NZ) 48.25 14
6:12pm - American Irving bounces into third with 83.25, shuffling all the Kiwis back another spot each...
Mackay (Canada) 87.25 1, Ferreira (USA) 84.25 2, Irving (USA) 83.25 3.. M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 5... N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 7... Harrington (NZ) 69.25 9
6:10pm - Finn Sallinen has the misfortune of colliding with a TV cameraman during his run, but was already off course and won't get a rerun for that.
6:05pm - Canadian D'Artois jumps into third place with 82.50, shuffling all the Kiwis back a spot each - Miguel into fourth, Nico into sixth and Harrington into eighth.
Mackay (Canada) 87.25 1, Ferreira (USA) 84.25 2, D'Artois (Canada) 82.50 3, M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 4... N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 6, Harrington (NZ) 69.25 8
6:03pm - Swiss Briguet scores 72.25 to shunt Harrington back into seventh.
5:59pm - Kiwi Ben Harrington begins his first run, as heavy snow falls. That should be good enough to put three Kiwis into the final... 69.25 slots him into sixth, just behind Nico Porteous.
Mackay (Canada) 87.25 1, Ferreira (USA) 84.25 2, M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 3... N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 5, Harrington (NZ) 69.25 6
5:55pm - Miguel Porteous is next, after Chinese Sun crashes out on his run. Nice effort from him, which should land him in final contention...
In fact, his 81.00 slots him into third and bumps Nico another spot back into fifth.
Mackay (Canada) 87.25 1, Ferreira (USA) 84.25 2, M Porteous (NZ) 81.00 3... N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 5
5:42pm - American Ferreira pushes Porteous back into fourth with 84.25, good for second at this stage.
Mackay (Canada) 87.25 1, Ferreira (USA) 84.25 2, Bowman (Canada) 78.25 3, N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 4
5:38pm - Porteous completes a safe run first up to avoid any anxious moments during the second effort. His 75.50 has him in third early, so he may still need to improve on that.
Mackay (Canada) 87.25 1, Bowman (Canada) 78.25 2, N Porteous (NZ) 75.50 3
5:34pm - American Noah Bowman gets the men's qualifying underway, with Kiwi Nico Porteous fourth in order, brother Migeul 12th, Ben Harrington 14th and Gustav Legnavsky 21st.
Bowman sets the early standard with 78.25.
4pm - Japanese Suzuki - the penultimate skier - cannot break into the top 12, leaving German Cakmakli to nail the final spot into the final. She continues with her second run anyway, but doesn't improve and will be the first skier off the rank in Friday's final.
Gu (China) 95.50 1, Karker (Canada) 89.50 2, Sildaru (Estonia) 87.50 3... Cakmakli (Germany) 71.50 12... McMillan (NZ) 41.75 18, Barugh (NZ) 38.50 19
About 1h 30 minutes now until the men's halfpipe qualifying, with four Kiwis - including gold-medal hope Nico Porteous - competing.
3:49pm - As commentators sat, McMillan is "relishing the Olympic experience", which probably means she's not making the final. Sure enough, her 43.50 is an improvement, but not nearly enough to crack the top 12 or, in fact, improve her final placing of 18th.
3:47pm - Canadian Fraser improves by half a point on her second run to consolidate her 11th spot and a likely qualifying spot for the final. McMillan next, still needing 71.50...
3:44pm - As she did in the opening round, Barugh lost momentum towards the middle of her run and spins out on landing. She won't improve and will finish 19th.
3:43pm - The Kiwis won't bring up the read of the field, as Korean Jang clips the edge of the halfpipe and falls on landing, as she did in her opening run. She will trail the field of 20.
Barugh is next, needing 71.50 to qualify...
3:40pm - Estonian Sildaru decides she doesn't need her second run to qualify and retires in third place.
3:34pm - Chinese Wu improves to 67.75, not enough to crack the top 12, but she passes both Kiwis, after botching her opening run.
3:26pm - Canadian Karker improves by a point, but not enough to promote her into the lead. Immediately after her, leader Gu turns the screw on her rivals, with 95.50 to stretch her advantage.
Gu (China) 95.50 1, Karker (Canada) 89.50 2, Sildaru (Estonia) 87.50 3... Cakmakli (Germany) 71.50 12... McMillan (NZ) 41.75 17, Barugh (NZ) 38.50 18
3:11pm - German Cakmakli completes the opening round with 71.50, good for 12th so far. She will be on the bubble entering the second and final round, with Kiwis McMillan and Barugh needing some big improvement to challenge for final spots.
Gu (China) 93.75 1, Karker (Canada) 88.50 2, Sildaru (Estonia) 87.50 3... Cakmakli (GermanY) 71.50 12... McMillan (NZ) 41.75 17, Barugh (NZ) 38.50 18
2:55pm - After Canadian Fraser (75.25), McMillan comes next. Similar run to Barugh, barely clearing above the sides of the pipe in the middle stages, but a clean run for an opening score of 41.75 in 11th.
Gu (China) 93.75 1, Karker (Canada) 88.50 2, Sildaru (Estonia) 87.50 3... McMillan (NZ) 41.75 11, Barugh (NZ) 38.50 12
2:51pm - Barugh is the first of the Kiwis to compete. Before her run, Korean Jang comes a cropper early in her run and won't score highly as a result.
Barugh gets nice clearance early, but loses momentum as the run progresses and then stumbles on landing. Her 38.50 has her in 10th early.
Gu (China) 93.75 1, Karker (Canada) 88.50 2, Sildaru (Estonia) 87.50 3... Barugh (NZ) 38.50 10
2:37pm - Kiwis Barugh and McMillan will run 12th and 14th respetively.
Though the first handful of athletes, the lead is held by Chinese Gu, who has already won gold in big air and silver in slopestyle at Beijing, and is the reigning world halfpipe champion. She'll be tough to beat on her home track.
Gu (China) 93.75 1, Karker (Canada) 88.50 2, Sharpe (Canada) 86.25 3
2:34pm - Full field for the women's halfpipe qualifying is:
Faulhaber Hanna (USA)
Rachael Karker (Canada)
Ailing Eileen Gu (China)
Cassie Sharpe (Canada)
Zoe Atkin (GBR)
Meng Wu (China)
Alexandra Glazkova (Russian Olympic Committee)
Brita Sigourney (USA)
Kelly Sildaru (Spain)
Daeun Kim (Korea)
Yujin Jang (Korea)
Anja Barugh (NZ)
Amy Fraser (Canada)
Chloe Mcmillan (NZ)
Kexin Zhang (China)
Fanghui Li (China)
Carly Margulies (USA)
Devin Logan (USA)
Saori Suzuki (Japan)
Sabrina Cakmakli (Germany)
*****
Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympics, where six Kiwis face qualifying for the freeski halfpipe events at Genting Snow Park.
First up, Anja Barugh and Chloe McMillan take on 18 other skiers in the women's event, with the best of two runs deciding 12 qualifers for tomorrow's final.
Then, New Zealand gets its first look at Nico Porteous, who won a bronze medal in this event four years ago at Pyeongchang, but now looms as a red-hot favourite for gold, given his continued development in the meantime.
Nico, brother Miguel, and Ben Harrington and Gustav Legnavsky take on the 23-strong men's field at 5:30pm.
At 16, Nico Porteous became New Zealand's youngest Olympic medallist, when he finished third in Korea, surpassed teammate Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in the process.
While Sadowski-Synnott has graduated to gold and silver in China, Porteous has an excellent chance of emulating that success, bringing excellent form into the Games.
In his final dress rehearsal, he oncorked his Olympic routine on his last run to steal victory at X-Games Aspen, putting his rivals on fair warning.
'Super proud': Sadowski-Synnott still coming to terms with epic Beijing campaign
After cementing herself as New Zealand's hero of the Beijing Winter Olympics, snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott is still coming to grips with her achievements.
Sadowski-Synnott, 20, created Kiwi history during the opening days in Beijing, claiming New Zealand's first gold medal at a Winter Olympics with first place in the snowboard slopestyle event.
Then, on Tuesday, Sadowski-Synnott returned to the podium with another medal, this time a silver in the women's snowboarding big air.
The two medals combined with her big air bronze from Pyeongchang 2018 gives Sadowski-Synnott a full Olympic set.
What's more, with her third medal now locked away, Sadowski-Synnott is responsible for 60 percent of Winter Olympics medals won by New Zealand, with only Annelise Coberger (silver, 1992) and Nico Porteous (bronze, 2018) the only others to have stood on a podium wearing the silver fern.
Sadowski-Synnott says she's still processing what she's achieved in Beijing, as she prepares to depart China as a true NZ sporting great.
"It hasn't sunk in at all," Sadowski-Synnott tells Newshub.
"[I'm] pretty stoked to get all the colours, and can't wait to get all the set together."
While other athletes would be disappointed at failing to claim gold from the same position, Sadowski-Synnott leaves Beijing with no regrets, and only taking positives from the big air.
Sharing the podium with gold medallist Anna Gasser of Austria, and Japan's Murase Kokomo was just reward for Sadowski-Synnott, as part of an outstanding big air field.
"[I'm] super proud. Pretty much every single person in finals was ripping," she adds.
"To see all your mates succeed and land tricks and get everyone stoked, that's what makes it worth it.
"Even if you're not on top, it doesn't matter because you're still having fun with your friends."
But Sadowski-Synnott isn't done yet. Even now as one of the best in her sport, she'll only be 24 years old by the time the next Winter Olympics rolls around in Milan in 2026.
And with time firmly on her side, Sadowski-Synnott has her sights locked on becoming the first New Zealander to win two Winter Olympic gold medals - but not before a well deserved break.
"I'm definitely looking ahead to the next Games, I'd be super stoked to make it to Italy.
"There's still a lot of progression to happen in women's snowboarding, and I hope that I can be part of it.
"But I kind of need to check out for a bit, and enjoy myself. So I'm going to go compete in Canada in Natural Selection. It's more of a fun comp, and see where that takes me and make the most of it."
