The medalists from China, South Korea, and Kazakhstan pose for a photo at the victory ceremony for Biathlon women's 4x6km relay at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua )

HARBIN, China, Feb 13, (Xinhua): South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan and Kim Chae-yeon took gold in the men's and women's singles events, respectively, at the Asian Winter Games here on Thursday.

Despite leading by nearly 10 points in the short program, Japan's Yuma Kagiyama slipped three times on Thursday, handing the gold medal to Cha, South Korea's national champion, who posted an impressive score of 281.69 points. Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov claimed the bronze.

Amid cheers from the home crowd, China's Dai Dawei landed two quadruple jumps to finish fourth with 238.83 points, while his compatriot Chen Yudong ranked seventh with 203.32 points.

Sakamoto slipped on a triple jump. Hana Yoshida of Japan took home the bronze medal.

Reflecting on her performance, Kim noted, "When I finished my free skate, I told myself - finally, I did it!" Although she admitted to feeling more nervous than the day before, she was proud to have delivered a clean performance, particularly in her jump combinations. "The most satisfying part for me at the Harbin Asian Winter Games was landing a triple Salchow in competition for the first time," she added.

China's Zhu Yi and An Xiangyi, who both battled fever and cough, finished fifth and sixth with 168.86 points and 161.71 points, respectively.

Meng Fanqi delivered a stunning final leg to secure victory for China in the biathlon women's 4x6 km relay.

China's quartet, consisting of Tang Jialin, Wen Ying, Chu Yuanmeng, and Meng, had struggled in the early stages and sat third at the final exchange. However, Meng rose to the occasion, making up ground and securing the win in a time of one hour, 29 minutes, and 6.3 seconds.

South Korea finished 21 seconds behind to take the silver, while Kazakhstan claimed the bronze.

In the men's 4x7.5km relay, Japan and China were neck and neck until the final leg, where China's Gu Cang faltered with multiple shooting errors. Japan capitalized on the mistakes, pulling ahead to win gold in one hour, 24 minutes, and 20.3 seconds.

Kazakhstan also surged past China to secure the silver in 1:25:18.7, leaving China with the bronze in 1:25:32.7.

With a comeback victory in the biathlon women's 4x6km relay on Thursday, China secured its 19th gold medal in snow events at the Harbin Asian Winter Games, marking the highest number ever for the Chinese delegation at a single Winter Asiad.

While all snow events concluded on Thursday, the men's and women's ice hockey and curling titles will be decided on Friday, the final day of competition.