China sweeps halfpipe golds at Asiad

Zhang Yiwei wins men's halfpipe gold at the snowboarding competition of the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, on Saturday, February 25, 2017. [Photo: sports.163.com]

Zhang Yiwei and Liu Jiayu captured men's and women's halfpipe respectively at the snowboarding competition of the Asian Winter Games on Saturday.

Zhang came first with 93.50 points at Sapporo Bankei Ski Area, beating South Korean Kwon Lee-jun into second place by 6.5 points.

In the final where a better score in two attempts is recorded as the result, Zhang scored 90.50 points in his first run, and then topped himself with 93.50 in the second.

Kwon posted 81.00 and 87.00 points from two runs while Japanese Ayumu Nedefuji earned 86.75 for the bronze. 

Zhang, sixth at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, said he performed to 80 percent of his potential since he had just recovered from a back injury.

"I have never rested on a gold medal," he said. "Once an event is won, it becomes history. Now I am looking forward to the 2018 Winter Olympics." 

The women's final saw a 1-2 finish by Chinese boarders as Liu scored 93.00 points in her first run before botching her second with 35.25, taking the gold ahead of heavily favored teammate Cai Xuetong who had 78.50 in her second run.

Japanese Kurumi Imai scored 73.00 points for the bronze.