Kazakhstan s skier Mukhin wins men s 15km cross-country

Sapporo (Japan) Feb 21 (IANS) Kazakhstan pocketed another gold at the Asian Winter Games here on Tuesday when skier Rinat Mukhin claimed the men s 15km cross-country free title.

The young skier crossed the finish line at Shirahatayama Open Stadium in 41 minutes and 25.3 seconds reports Xinhua news agency.

Japan s Naoto Baba only 4.5 seconds slower settled for the silver while another Japanese Akira Lenting took the bronze in 41:33.3.

Earlier Japan s Yuki Kobayashi took the women s 10km free gold in 30:24.6 24.4 seconds faster than 35-year-old defending champion Lee Chae-won from South Korea.

The bronze went to Yelena Kolomina of Kazakhstan who also got a silver in the women s 1.4 km individual sprint classical on Monday.

The best Chinese finishers in the two cross-country free events were Li Hongxue in 32:10.9 and Wang Qiang in 43:33.8 taking the sixth and seventh place respectively.

I m satisfied with the performance of Li Hongxue and Wang Qiang said the head coach Mikko Olavi Virtanen.

We are still a little behind the best Asian opponents in the long-distance races. We need more time he added.

--IANS
gau/vt