HARBIN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ren Junfei and Xing Jianing secured China's first figure skating medal in the ice dance event at the Harbin Asian Winter Games, while Cidanyuzhen and Buluer led Chinese skiers to a podium sweep in the ski mountaineering mixed relay on Wednesday.
As the fifth pair to step on the rink in Wednesday's free dance, Ren and Xing delivered a near-flawless performance, clinching 61.80 points on the technical element score and 45.16 points on the program component score. However, based on the total score of the rhythm dance and free dance, the Chinese pair was unable to defeat the Japanese duo, Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita, settling for silver.
Yoshida and Morita won the ice dance gold with 173.31 points, and their teammates Azusa Tanaka and Shingo Nishiyama bagged the bronze.
Even though claiming a big-time victory, the pair addressed their shortcomings right after the competition. "Winning gold at an international event has boosted our confidence, but there's still room for improvement. Our step sequence today wasn't perfect. We were supposed to move more dynamically, but we didn't execute well, leading to noticeable mistakes. We'll keep training hard and aim for a better performance at the World Championships," said Morita.
Meanwhile, the Japanese figure skaters planned to give themselves a break by enjoying the city of Harbin. "Despite the cold weather, I felt the warmth and hospitality of the locals. Before leaving, I'd like to visit Harbin's Ice and Snow World," Morita added.
Despite finishing just 2.06 points behind the champions, Ren and Xing remained upbeat. "We've already shown our best level, and I believe that we'll skate better in the future," Ren noted.
Their coach, Zheng Xun, praised their performance, noting their rapid progress since teaming up just 10 months ago. "They've improved a lot and performed at about 90 percent of their training level."
In pair skating, Geynish and Chigirev of Uzbekistan claimed the gold with 176.43 points. Ryom Tae-ok and Han Kum-chol of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea edged out the Japanese pair of Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi to claim the silver medal.
In Yabuli, China achieved a podium sweep in the ski mountaineering mixed relay. Young talents Cidanyuzhen and Buluer claimed the gold with a commanding final performance, crossing the finish line in 27 minutes and 48.67 seconds. China's other two pairs, Yu Jingxuan/Bi Yuxin and Suolangquzhen/Liu Jianbin, secured silver and bronze respectively.
Due to weather conditions, after discussions at a team leaders' meeting and with agreement from jury members, it was decided to adjust the competition date and time for Freeski Big Air, originally scheduled for Thursday at Yabuli Ski Resort, to Wednesday.
China was not affected by the schedule change, as freestyle skier Liu Mengting claimed victory in the women's Freeski Big Air, with her teammates Han Linshan and Yang Ruyi securing silver and bronze respectively.
Rai Kasamura of Japan won the men's Freeski Big Air gold, while Yoon Jong-hyun and Shin Yeong-seop, both from South Korea, took silver and bronze.
Also on Wednesday, China clinched two team events in cross-country skiing to wrap up the sport at the Games. In the women's 4x5km relay, China clocked 53:59.3 to win the title, with Kazakhstan and Japan taking the silver and bronze respectively. The host later finished the men's 4x7.5km relay in 1:12:09.6, outperforming silver medalists Japan and third-place Kazakhstan. ■
