Snowboarder Mastnak bags victory in parallel giant slalom
Beijing, 7 December - Slovenian snowboarder Tim Mastnak won a World Cup parallel giant slalom event in Yanquing, China, on Saturday. In the finals he beat Italian Maurizio Bormolini, who fell, to clinch his fourth World Cup victory. In women's race, Gloria Kotnik finished fourth.
Zreče, smučišče Rogla.
Svetovni pokal v deskanju na snegu, paralelni veleslalom za moške in ženske.
Slovenski deskar na snegu Tim Mastnak.
Foto: Nebojša Tejić/STA
Mastnak, who won silver at the Beijing Olympics two years ago, beat Italy's Mirko Felicetti in the semi-finals.
"I love China very much, I won the last Cup here in 2019. I couldn't have asked for a better performance," the 33-year-old Mastnak told the organisers.
"It's been a while, but I've never stopped believing that I'd win again. There have been a few defeats, but today I'm very happy to be back on top. It wasn't easy because the conditions were difficult, it was windy and very cold."
Mastnak won his first World Cup event in Scuol, Switzerland, in 2018, and then in Carezza, Italy, the same year, and in Secret Garden, China, in 2019.
Kotnik fought for the third place with Tsubaki Miki from Japan. "After a really bad start to the season, I needed a match like today to get my confidence back up. I always knew I was fast, but my mistakes cost me better placings. Fourth place today is a great result, but it's always a shame if there is no podium," Kotnik said.
On Sunday, snowboarders will compete in parallel slalom events.