Sun Qi unstoppable at Landgraaf World Cup

If going sub-41 seconds was day one’s challenge, China’s Sun Qi made sure day two was even tougher for his rivals at the 2018 World Para Snowboard World Cup in Landgraaf, Netherlands.

The 19-year-old clocked 39.92 seconds to claim gold in the men’s SB-LL2 category on the second and final day (15 November) of banked slalom races.

The day before, Sun was the only snowboarder to go sub-41.

Finland’s Matti Suur-Hamari accepted that challenge, going 40.14 on Thursday. But his first-place was short lived when it was Sun’s turn and the world champion once again had to settle for silver. Australia’s Ben Tudhope completed the podium.

Aussie-Austrian battle

The men’s SB-UL category was a close affair between Austria’s Patrick Mayrhofer and Australia’s Simon Patmore.

Mayrhofer’s first run of 42.18 was enough to hold off the reigning Paralympic champion by a split second and take his third straight World Cup title.

Patmore’s teammate Sean Pollard finished third.

Dutch untouchable

Chris Vos raced with comfort in the men’s SB-LL1, winning with a time of 42.72, nearly three seconds ahead of the rest of his category. He is now four-for-four on the 2018-19 World Cup circuit.

Austria’s Reinhold Schett and Croatia’s Bruno Bosnjak finished second and third, respectively.

The women’s SB-LL2 saw a similar Dutch dominance from Lisa Bunschoten (45.98). Canada’s Sandrine Hamel took silver, followed by the Netherlands’ Renske van Beek.

France’s Cecile Hernandez (45.35) was the fastest woman on the course on Thursday, taking the SB-LL1 victory. China’s Lu Jiangli (46.61) won the women’s SB-UL.

Complete results from the Landgraaf World Cup on World Para Snowboard’s website.

The World Cup continues on 30 November in Pyha, Finland, where the 2019 World Championships will also be held.