Asia's first Olympic skateboarding qualifier takes place in Nanjing
Updated 18:40, 20-Jul-2019
Li Chenqi
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The six-day International Skateboarding Open concluded on Friday at the Longjiang National Skateboarding Training Base in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province.

It was the first Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifier for skateboarding in Asia and attracted 102 skaters from 27 countries for the Pool event.

Japan's Misugu Okamoto, Sakura Yosozumi and Kisa Nakamura conquered the podium for the women's group and Heimana Reynolds of the U.S., Luiz Francisco of Brazil and Alex Sorgente of the U.S. won the first three places in the men's group respectively.

The winners took the prizes of 30,000, 15,000 and 10,000 U.S. dollars home according to their places. And there's a 40,000 U.S. dollar reward for scoring 94 points at the Olympics.

Men's group winners during the International Skateboarding Open in Nanjing, China, July 19, 2019. /Courtesy of International Skateboarding Open

Men's group winners during the International Skateboarding Open in Nanjing, China, July 19, 2019. /Courtesy of International Skateboarding Open

Women's group winners during the International Skateboarding Open in Nanjing, China, July 19, 2019. /Courtesy of International Skateboarding Open

Women's group winners during the International Skateboarding Open in Nanjing, China, July 19, 2019. /Courtesy of International Skateboarding Open

Zhang Xin of China in action during the International Skateboarding Open in Nanjing, China, July 19, 2019. /Courtesy of International Skateboarding Open

Zhang Xin of China in action during the International Skateboarding Open in Nanjing, China, July 19, 2019. /Courtesy of International Skateboarding Open

Zhang Xin was the only female player for the China team, and the Chinese performed the best in this tournament. She competed till the semi-final, while other three male players were all relegated during the qualification phase.

The 20-year-old from Hunan Province was the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games Pool event bronze medalist. She finished ninth in the semi-final, just missing out on the top-8 place necessary for qualification.

There will be another five skateboarding Olympic qualifiers in China before May 2020, with the first being held at China's first extreme sports base in Qingfeng, Henan Province, from September 3 to 8.