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UPDATED FIS Snowboard World Cup in Bansko: Bulgarians Impress, Germany's Hoffmeister Dominates

Momchil Rusev, BTA special correspondent Georgi Krumov, Metodi Yordanov
FIS Snowboard World Cup in Bansko: Bulgarians Impress, Germany's Hoffmeister Dominates
FIS Snowboard World Cup in Bansko: Bulgarians Impress, Germany's Hoffmeister Dominates
Snowboarders battling in the parallel giant slalom at FIS Snowboard World Cup in Bansko on January 18, 2025 (Bansko Municipality Photo)
Bansko Resort, Southwest Bulgaria,  
19.01.2025 18:40 | UPDATED 19.01.2025 19:57
 (BTA)

The FIS Snowboard World Cup in Bansko on January 18-19 featured good results for Bulgarian snowboarders, two wins in a row for Germany's Ramona Theresia Hofmeister in the women's competition and victories for Austrian Andreas Prommegger on Saturday, and Switzerland's Dario Caviezel on Sunday in the men's. Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) special correspondent Georgi Krumov covered the event. 

Bulgarian teenagers Tervel Zamrifov and Malena Zamfirova (brother and sister) achieved the best results in their careers, while Radoslav Yankov was on the podium on Sunday with a third-place finish. 

A total of 135 snowboarders from 19 countries took part in the competition. 

The competition was officially opened on Friday evening by Youth and Sports Minister Ivan Peshev: "This establishes Bulgaria as a leading winter sports destination in Europe. I especially want to thank the Bulgarian Ski Federation, which has made great efforts in recent years and thanks to this Bulgaria has hosted dozens of rounds of the World Cups in alpine skiing and snowboarding," he said. 

DAY I

The crowd in Bansko had reasons to cheer in the first day of the event as 19-year-old Tervel Zamfirov achieved the best result of his career, finishing fourth in the parallel giant slalom. He got the better of his national team teammate Radoslav Yankov in the quarterfinals and finished just 0.13 seconds behind three-time world champion Andreas Prommegger in the semi-finals before losing to Italian Gabriel Messner in the battle for third place.

Austria's 44-year-old Prommegger went on to win the final but later paid tribute to Zamfirov, saying that his victory in the semi-finals was very difficult and predicted a bright future for the Bulgarian talent. He described the track this year as the best he has seen in Bansko so far.

Bulgaria's most successful snowboarder Radoslav Yankov expressed dissapointment with his fifth place but stressed that the country having two representatives in the top 8 is a great achievement.

In the women's competition, Germany's Ramona Theresia Hofmeister recorded her second consecutive victory in the FIS Snowboard World Cup.  In the final, she triumphed against the second in the FIS World Cup parallel giant slalom standings Tsubaki Miki of Japan by a margin of over half a second.

In her press conference after the win, she described the conditions and the track as perfect.

Saturday marked the debut among the best female alpine snowboarders of 15-year-old Bulgarian Malena Zamfirova, the younger sister of Tervel Zamfirov. She finished 36th and added that the two starts in Bansko this weekend were a kind of training for her in order to gain more experience.

The winners from Saturday's parallel giant slaloms were awarded by Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh. The second and third-placed snowboarders received their awards from Bansko Mayor Stoycho Banenski and Bulgarian Olympic Committee President Stefka Kostadinova.

The award ceremony took place in front of nearly 1,000 residents and guests of Bansko.

DAY II

In her interview with BTA on Saturday, Zamfirova said she hoped for a better performance on Sunday. And she delivered. The teenager finished the qualifications in 19th just 0.37 seconds away from joining the direct eliminations: "I have a very long way to go. I know it is going to happen - I am going to ride in finals and get podiums someday," she said and noted that this result gives her the opportunity to take part in one more World Cup start this season.

Hofmeister made it three in a row, reaching another first place on Sunday in a repeat of the final from the previous day against Japan's Tsubaki Miki. Third place went to the Netherlands' Michelle Dekker.

The men's competition was especially suspensful for the Bulgarian audience. After taking revenge for his Saturday defeat against Zamfirov, Yankov reached the match for the third place where rode a close race against Austrian Alexander Payer. At first the photo finish gave the third place to Payer with a 0.05 margin but a video review ruled otherwise and did put the Bulgarian at the podium. 

Switzerland's Dario Caviezel, who managed to get the better of Yankov in the semi-finals, won the first place with a victory against Italian Gabriel Messner.

Bulgarian Ski Federation (BSF) President Tseko Minev said after the competition that Bansko is very close to becoming a permanent part of the men's Alpine Skiing World Cup calendar. 

/MR/

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By 20:38 on 19.01.2025 Today`s news

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