Japan's Ikuma Horishima became the first Japanese man to claim the freestyle skiing World Cup moguls title by finishing second in the season's final moguls competition Friday in Kazakhstan.
The Beijing Winter Olympics bronze medalist finished behind Canada's Mikael Kingsbury in Almaty but pipped the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics gold medalist in the season's rankings 610 points to 600 to lift the trophy.
"To be able to finally get my hands on the crystal globe after my 100th World Cup competition feels incredibly significant. It has been an extremely good day," Horishima said.
Horishima is second in the race for another championship, in overall moguls, in which competitors earn points in both moguls and dual moguls. There are two more dual moguls events this season.
Dual moguls will make its first appearance at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Kingsbury, who won Olympic moguls silver medals in 2014 and 2022, scored 84.89 points on Friday to Horishima's 83.48. Australia's Matt Graham was third.
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Freestyle skiing: Ikuma Horishima gets 2nd World Cup moguls win of season
