Ruud produced the highest scoring run of the day in Savoie, earning 88.50 points with his first effort of the competition.

The Beijing 2022 Big Air gold medallist was followed by Canada’s Max Moffatt and Olympic bronze medallist Jesper Tjader of Sweden, who finished on 87.25 and 86.00 points, respectively.

United States’ Mac Forehand placed fourth on 84.50 points to advance, with Sweden’s Hugo Burvall, American Cody Laplante, Switzerland’s Valentin Morel and Norway’s Sebastian Schjerve claiming the remaining spots from the heat.

Olympic champion Hall missed out on a top eight finish, with his 10th place seeing the American failed to qualify for the final.

The second heat saw World Cup leader Andri Ragettli finish top of the standings with a score of 84.50 points, achieved on his first run.

Hunter Henderson followed the Swiss skier, the American ending second in the heat with a score of 82.25 points.

Norway’s Tormod Frostad and Sweden’s Oliwer Magnusson completed the top four in the heat on 81.75 and 81.50 points, respectively.

They followed by the Spanish duo of Thibault Magnin and Javier Lliso, who ended on 81.00 and 80.00 points, respectively.

The final spots in the final were earned by Canada’s Mark Henrickson and Amercia's Konnor Ralph, who scored 79.00 and 77.75, respectively.

Switzerland’s Colin Wili was among those to miss out on the final.

His absence from the final will give Ragettli the opportunity to strengthen his lead in the World Cup standings.

Ragettli leads overall with a total of 200 points, with Wili second on 122 points heading into the penultimate competition of the season, due to take place in Silvaplana in Switzerland in two weeks time.

Women’s qualification is due to take place tomorrow, with both finals held on Saturday (March 12).