YABULI — Fifteen-year-old Laetaz Amihan Rabe concluded her inaugural appearance at the 9th Asian Winter Games with a sixth-place finish in the women's freeski slopestyle event on Tuesday at the Freeski Slopestyle Stadium in Heilongjiang province.
Rabe achieved a score of 56.50 points in her first run but was unable to improve in her subsequent attempts, securing her position at the bottom of the standings. The event was dominated by Chinese athletes, who swept the podium.
Reflecting on her performance, Rabe, whose father Ric hails from Cotabato City and mother Aileen from Malolos, Bulacan, expressed satisfaction: “I’m still happy with my runs even though it ended at last [place]. But I've made a lot of progress, and I did my best, pushed myself in that I have never done before.”
China’s 20-year-old Liu Mengting clinched the gold medal with an impressive score of 94.0 points, showcasing gravity-defying stunts and intricate tricks. Her teammates, 19-year-old Yang Ruyi and 18-year-old Han Linshan secured the silver and bronze medals with scores of 90.50 and 87.00 points, respectively, leading to a complete Chinese podium sweep.
Japanese competitors Kiho Sugarawa and Kanon Kondo finished fourth and fifth, scoring 81.75 and 72.00 points, respectively. Both athletes were unable to improve their scores in their final runs.
Rabe, a first-year senior high student at College Andre-Chavanne in Geneva, Switzerland, executed a 360 trick, a cannon move, and a tail grab in her initial run. Despite attempting new moves in her subsequent runs, the judges maintained her initial score.
In other events, the Philippine women's curling team suffered a close 5-4 loss to Kazakhstan at the Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena.
With the game tied going into the end, Philippine skip Kathleen Dubberstein delivered the team's final stone, with teammates Anne Bonache and Leilani Sumbillo guiding it into a promising position. However, Kazakhstan’s skip Angelina Ebauyer, assisted by Merey Tastemir and Tilsimay Alliyarova, skillfully maneuvered their last stone to displace the Philippines’ stone, securing the victory.
This defeat marks the second loss for the Filipino curlers in four matches. They are scheduled to face Thailand on Tuesday evening, followed by challenging matches against powerhouse teams China and South Korea on Wednesday, before concluding the eliminations against Chinese Taipei on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Philippine men's curling team achieved a commanding 12-2 victory over Kyrgyzstan late Monday evening. Led by skip Marc Pfister, the team took a break on Tuesday and is set to conclude its round-robin qualification in Group A against Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, aiming to advance to the qualification stage before the semifinals. PR
