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Asian Games: 17-year-old Yang loses to Ikeda in shortboard as surfing makes debut
In Short
China's 17-year-old Yang Siqi clinches silver in the women's shortboard at the 2026 Asian Games after a hard-fought final against Japan's Mirai Ikeda as surfing makes its Games debut.
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Asian Games: 17-year-old Yang loses to Ikeda in shortboard as surfing makes debut
China's 17-year-old Yang Siqi took silver in the women's shortboard at the 2026 Asian Games on Tuesday after losing to Japan's Mirai Ikeda in the final.
Surfing made its debut as an official Asian Games sport at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, with the men's and women's shortboard events also serving as qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Yang made a strong start, scoring 4.00 and 3.57 points on her first two waves to take an early lead. But Ikeda continued to find scoring opportunities despite the small waves and overtook Yang with a series of manoeuvres.
Yang was unable to find another suitable wave in the second half and eventually lost 11.64-7.57. Japan's Minami Nonaka took bronze.
"Overall, I think I performed quite well. I feel that I've become more mature and consistent this time, and I can also feel my progress," Yang said after the final.
Yang said she remained calm while trailing and resisted the temptation to use her priority too early, reflecting progress she attributed to competing in international events over the past two years.
However, Yang's eyes were filled with tears as she reflected on the missed opportunity for gold.
"I was waiting for a good wave, but it never came. It's quite disappointing because I felt I had a chance to fight for the title," she said.
Yang qualified for the Paris Olympics in 2024, becoming the first Chinese surfer to book an Olympic berth.
In the men's shortboard final, Japan's Kanoa Igarashi, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, defeated Indonesia's I Made Pajar Ariyana to take gold. The Philippines' Jayuard Alciso won bronze.
