Hangzhou, China, September 27, 2023: China completed a skateboarding golden double at the Qiantang Roller Sports Centre on Wednesday as teenage duo Cui Chenxi and Zhang Jie won the women’s and men’s street event, respectively.
Thirteen-year-old Cui claimed gold in the morning session ahead of compatriot Zeng Wenhui, with Japan’s Miyu Ito taking third, while Zhang won the men’s title ahead of Sanggoe Darma Tanjung from Indonesia and China's Su Jianjun.
“Actually, I always wanted to win gold,” said Cui, who celebrates her 14th birthday in December. “This competition is different from other competitions, so I especially wanted to win this one.”
Cui took first place with a total of 242.62 points, 6.01 points ahead of Zeng with a strong showing in the second run – when Cui picked up 79.14 points to Zeng’s 73.00 – the difference between the two skaters.
"My tactic was to be conservative on the first run, to get some points on the scoreboard, then make a push for it on the second run,” said Cui.
“I completed 90 per cent of what I'd planned. There was just the trick I tried in the last three single trick attempts and missed. That one was really difficult. But my coaches respect my choice, so it's OK if I fail doing the tricks I want to do.”
Zeng finished 15.02 points ahead of Ito to ensure a Chinese one-two on the podium, but she was left disappointed by the result.
“I came up a little bit short in this competition,” said the 18-year-old. “I do have regrets, but this time another competitor managed to pull off an upset.”
Sixteen-year-old Zhang, meanwhile, claimed the men’s event with a strong showing in the trick discipline to win by more than 30 points from Sanggoe.
The Chinese skater trailed Japan’s Ginu Onodera after the opening two runs but scores of 78.67 and 81.89 earned him gold with Sanggoe taking second and Su the bronze as 13-year-old Onodera dropped to seventh.
“It was very good, but at first I messed up, so I just kept trying,” said Zhang. “I gave a good performance here at the Asian Games.”
The total score was comprised of the highest score of the two runs, and the two highest scores of the five tricks. (Michael Church, OCA Media)