Far East Cup and FIS races underway in China

A total of 12 races per gender including FIS events and Far East Cup (FEC) competitions are underway at two different venues in China this month. Competitors include 166 athletes representing 22 nations at these truly international events.

FIS racing in China kicked off on 26th November with a technical series at Wanlong Ski Resorts consisting of two slaloms and two giant slaloms each for ladies and men. Then the Far East Cup commenced at Wanlong on 4th December with races concluding there on 7th December. Now the Far East Cup is currently running at Taiwoo Ski Resorts through Wednesday of this week.

Asa Ando of Japan bested Youngseo Kang of Korea to claim the opening Far East Cup ladies' slalom victory of the season. Ando also had a promising start on the World Cup tour finishing 26th in the season giant slalom opener at Sölden. In the second ladies' slalom at Wanlong, Sweden's Liv Ceder overtook Japan's Sakurako Mukogawa for the win as New Zealand's Piera Hudson rounded out the multi-national podium in third.

Ando also won the opening giant slalom race ahead of teammate Mio Arai. Daria Krajewska of Poland held on for third place. Hudson drove for the win and her second podium of the series ahead of Mukogawa as Krajewska finished third for the second day in a row.

Donghyun Jung of Korea and Tijan Marovt of Slovenia traded slalom victories in the opening men's series. Jung went on to sweep both days of giant slalom racing ahead of Great Britain's Iain Innes to finish off the FEC events at Wanglong. The tour then headed to Taiwoo to start off this week's races.

In the opening ladies' slalom at Taiwoo, Sweden's Ceder claimed her second victory of the tour by edging out Miki Ishibashi of Japan. Latvia's Agnese Aboltina rounded out the podium in third position. In the men's slalom, Bulgaria's Kamen Zlatkov bested Czech skier Ondrej Berndt for the win. But podium regular Jung made yet another appearance in the awards for third place.

The Far East Cup series wraps up in China on 13th December before picking up again in February in Japan. The standings are hotly contested with Jung leading the men's overall, slalom, and giant slalom Far East Cup to date. Mukogawa holds the ladies' overall lead but sits second behind Ceder in the slalom standings. Hudson holds the giant slalom standings lead ahead of Arai and teammate Mukogawa who are tied for second.

Fans can stay up to date on the full Far East Cup calendar and results here as well as standings here.