Boarders on brink of breakthrough

China's halfpipe heroes gearing up for Olympic glory in Pyeongchang

China's snowboarders looked primed to land on an Olympic podium for the first time in Pyeongchang.

Last week's China leg of the halfpipe World Cup in Chongli, Zhangjiakou provided more evidence that a golden breakthrough is on the cards at February's Games in South Korea.

The team, which has collected multiple World Cup and world championship wins in recent years, will now head for a three-week camp in the Swiss Alps to fine-tune their routines before one final competitive test in the season's last World Cup event at LAAX in Switzerland.

"Our boarders have been in very good form this season - physically and mentally," said Li Yang, an official with the National Winter Sports Administrative Center who is in charge of snowboarding.

"Technically their routines are competitive in regard to their difficulty level, but they still have to improve stability in order to execute their best tricks consistently."

Two-time Olympian Liu Jiayu led China's charge in Chongli with victory in the women's event.

Liu, the halfpipe winner at the 2009 world championships in South Korea, stomped a dazzling string of tricks including a cab 720, back-toback 540s and a final frontside 720 in her first run of the final to win her ninth World Cup title on the Olympic-standard ramp at Genting Ski Resort, a venue for the 2022 Games.

"To win the Olympic gold medal is the dream of every athlete. I've been ready to realize mine in Peyongchang," said Liu, whose fourth-place finish at the 2010 Vancouver Games is China's best Olympic result in the discipline.

Li, though, cautioned that Chinese boarders' lack of consistency means they are vulnerable to variables such as weather and slope conditions.

"With the development of routine difficulty around the world, everyone who makes the final in Pyeongchang has a good chance to win gold," explained Li.

"We are focusing more on delivering our best as consistently as possible to combat all the uncertainties."

Li's concerns were underlined by the error-ridden performances in Chongli of China's other world-class female boarder, Cai Xuetong, and China men's No 1, Zhang Yiwei.

Cai, the 2015 world champion, finished third in Chongli with a faulty landing in her final run, while Zhang, who finished sixth at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, failed to make it through the preliminary round as he struggled in strong winds.

"We are confident to break through this time in Pyeongchang once we stomp our tricks in the perfect fashion. Now we have to work on increasing the probability of executing our runs to the best," said Cai.