NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — China’s 17-year-old Yang Siqi took silver within the ladies’s shortboard on the 2026 Asian Games on Tuesday after shedding to Japan’s Mirai Ikeda within the ultimate.
Surfing made its debut as an official Asian Games sport on the Aichi-Nagoya Games, with the lads’s and ladies’s shortboard occasions additionally serving as qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Yang made a robust begin, scoring 4.00 and three.57 factors on her first two waves to take an early lead. But Ikeda continued to seek out scoring alternatives regardless of the small waves and overtook Yang with a collection of maneuvers.
Yang was unable to seek out one other appropriate wave within the second half and ultimately misplaced 11.64-7.57. Japan’s Minami Nonaka took bronze.
“Overall, I think I performed quite well. I feel that I’ve become more mature and consistent this time, and I can also feel my progress,” Yang stated after the ultimate.
Yang stated she remained calm whereas trailing and resisted the temptation to make use of her precedence too early, reflecting progress she attributed to competing in worldwide occasions over the previous two years.
However, Yang’s eyes had been crammed with tears as she mirrored on the missed alternative for gold.
“I was waiting for a good wave, but it never came. It’s quite disappointing because I felt I had a chance to fight for the title,” she stated.
Yang certified for the Paris Olympics in 2024, changing into the primary Chinese surfer to e-book an Olympic berth.
In the lads’s shortboard ultimate, Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, defeated Indonesia’s I Made Pajar Ariyana to take gold. The Philippines’ Jayuard Alciso had bronze.