Japan's Maeda wins alpine skiing women's slalom at Harbin Asian Winter Games

HARBIN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chisaki Maeda of Japan won the women's slalom of alpine skiing at the 9th Asian Winter Games at Yabuli here on Saturday.

Finishing the first run first in 47.29 seconds and tying South Korea's Gim So-hui in the second run in 46.21, the 26-year-old Japanese combined a total result of one minute and 33.50 seconds to claim the gold.

Gim settled for the silver at 0.56 seconds, while Japan's Eren Watanabe took bronze, 0.86 seconds further back.

"I arrived here yesterday morning. It was a tight schedule for me. I think my performance is very good today, so I am very happy. I am not nervous before the competition, and the result didn't beyond my expectation," Maeda said.

Chinese skiers Ni Yueming and Zhang Guiyuan ranked 8th and 12th, respectively. The other two skiers of China, Ding Jie and Zhang Yuying, didn't finish their runs.

"I tried my best and made utmost efforts today. After the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, I kept systematic training, looking forward to encouraging more kids to enjoy skiing and participating in competitions," said Ni.

"I also hope to compete at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games," added the 29-year-old, who claimed the women's slalom title at the 14th China's National Winter Games.