In sunny Shenyang in China, competitors from Japan, Russia, Canada, and China lined up for that ticket to Argentina. The Chinese riders and audience were really welcoming and supportive of the athletes from Japan and Russia, and it was Tetsuya Furuno from Japan, and Boris Ponomarev from Russia battling it out all day long in the Men's category. The Chinese riders put on a great show and showed a huge effort but eventually couldn’t match the two riders from Japan and Russia who would come out as the two finalists.
Tetsuya, finalist in the other qualifier in Deqing earlier this year, put up a fierce battle against Boris in his quest for the winner’s ticket to Argentina, but would play 2nd fiddle once again and miss out on the top spot with Boris setting the fasted time of the day in the final run.
The Women's racing was close and well matched with 3rd and 4th only half a second off each other and being close all day. The final was won by Shi Ruifang, an athlete from China’s south-western Yunnan province, the fastest qualifier who also traded fastest times through racing with eventual 2nd placed Jiang Jaijie.
Womens Results:
1st – Shi Ruifang (CHN)
2nd – Jiang Jiajie (CHN)
3rd – Gao Liyun (CHN)
4th – Liu Ruigi (CHN)
Mens Results:
1st - Boris Ponomarev (RUS)
2nd - Tetsuya Furuno (JAP)
3rd - LV Xiang (CHN)
4th - Qiao Yongbin (CHN)
Pics by @wusikuan1997 and @johnnyycheung