Kazakhstan captures first snow event gold at Asian Winter Games

HARBIN, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Roman Ivanov and Sherzod Khashirbayev clinched the first snow event gold for Kazakhstan at the Harbin Asian Winter Games, as they triumphed in the freestyle skiing men's aerials synchro on Tuesday.

The pair delivered a stunning last-jump performance to overcome two Chinese duos, claiming the title with 97.92 points. China's Geng Hu and Yang Yuheng took the silver medal, while bronze went to their compatriots Li Xinpeng and Qi Guangpu.

All three pairs of podium finishers executed the same difficulty of 3.5250 in the final. The two Chinese pairs achieved a 1-2 finish after the first attempt, while the Kazakh duo trailed their Chinese contenders after a shaky jump. However, they followed up with a nearly perfect second jump to achieve the surprising victory.

In the women's aerials synchro, China's Feng Junxi and Wang Xue claimed gold with 87.12 points, edging their compatriots Chen Meiting and Xu Mengtao, who took the silver with 84.86 points. Kazakhstan's Ardana Makhanova and Ayana Zholdas earned the bronze medal. ■