China leads Beijing 2022 tally as Liu Mengtao bags his 2nd medal

Liu Mengtao of China celebrates after the Para biathlon men's middle distance sitting event of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, on March 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

Chinese Para biathlete Liu Mengtao added a middle distance sitting gold to his sprint bronze as China led the Beijing 2022 Paralympic medal table with 27 medals.

CHONGLI, Zhangjiakou, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Liu Mengtao claimed the men's middle distance sitting title here on Tuesday to become the first Chinese Para biathlete to win two medals as China keeps leading the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic medal table.

The 20-year-old finished third in the men's sprint sitting here in his Paralympic debut on the first competition day before he won the gold medal.

"I was nervous on Saturday but I feel much better now. After I missed three shots I thought winning a medal might be impossible for me. But I kept accelerating my speed and my coach also yelled to remind me of the time," said Liu after finishing the 10km race in 30 minutes and 37.7 seconds.

"I'm not good at any of them," he laughed when asked whether his skiing or shooting was better.

Gold medalist Liu Mengtao of China poses for photos during the awarding ceremony for the Para biathlon men's middle distance sitting event. (Xinhua/Yan Linyun)

Before the awarding ceremony, Liu kept adjusting his cloth while asking the volunteers if his bib number covers the national flag on it.

"I compete for my country, of course the national flag should not be covered," he said.

His teammate Wang Yue added a bronze medal from the women's middle distance vision impaired to China, which sits at the top of the table with 27 medals including eight golds.

In other Para biathlon competitions on Tuesday, Kendall Gretsch of the United States (women's middle distance sitting), Iryna Bui of Ukraine (women's middle distance standing), Vitalii Lukianenko of Ukraine (men's middle distance vision impaired), Mark Arendz of Canada (men's middle distance standing) and Leonie Maria Walter of Germany (women's middle distance vision impaired) won their respective gold medals.

Yu Jing (L) of China vies with Alex Enderle of Italy during their para ice hockey preliminary round Group B match at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, March 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

In Para ice hockey, China beat Italy 6-0 in its final preliminary round for its third successive victory that confirmed its place in the qualifying finals on Wednesday.

Yu Jing made her Paralympic debut as the only female ice hockey player in the competition on International Women's Day.

"I hope my experience will encourage more girls pay attention to and participate in Para ice hockey to enjoy happiness and change lives," the 38-year-old said.

In wheelchair curling, defending champion China scored five points in the second end to build an early lead, beating the United States 10-2 for its fourth straight win.