site.btaMalena Zamfirova Posts Third-Fastest Time in Qualification at Snowboard World Cup in Bansko

Sixteen-year-old Bulgarian snowboarder Malena Zamfirova recorded the third-fastest time in the qualification round of the parallel giant slalom at the Snowboard World Cup in Bansko.

Zamfirova secured her place in the main draw already with her first run on the course. On the red course she clocked the best time of 37.26 seconds. This result was surpassed only by overall World Cup leader Tsubaki Miki of Japan, who posted 36.54 seconds on the blue course.

In the second part of the qualification, Zamfirova raced directly against Miki. On the blue course she placed 19th, but with a combined time of 1:17.28 minutes she had no difficulty advancing to the knockout stage of the competition.

Tsubaki Miki won the qualification with a total time of 1:15.46 minutes. She was followed by last year’s Bansko winner Ramona Theresia Hofmeister of Germany, who finished second, 1.65 seconds behind. Zamfirova placed third at 1.82 seconds, while Poland’s Aleksandra Król-Walas was fourth, 2.20 seconds off the pace.

In the race, which begins at 1:00 p.m., Zamfirova will face China’s Naiying Gong, who finished 14th in the qualification.

The other Bulgarian competitors were eliminated after the first part of the qualification. The best among them was the most experienced athlete on the team, 43-year-old Teodora Pencheva, who placed 19th on the red course and 35th overall. Her time was 3.73 seconds slower than Zamfirova’s, but only 0.42 seconds behind Austria’s Carmen Kainz, who completed the top 32.

Andrea Kotsinova finished 43rd in the qualification, while Yordanka Andonova, Aglika Georgieva and Anita Raycheva placed between 45th and 47th. Bilyana Zamfirova did not finish her run.