The first competition in the Bosideng ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating series concluded in Harbin, China on Sunday night.
South Korea prevailed on the final day, taking all six golds at 1000m, 3000m and both relays.
Choi Eun-Kyung, the defending champion of the World Cup last year, finished first in women's 1000m in one minute 33.629 seconds ahead of runner-up Chinese Wang Meng who clocked at 1:33.951. The third place went to another South Korean Kang Yun-Mi with 1:34.426.
South Koreans also shone in the men's event as Ahn Hyun-Soo and Song Kyung-Taek finished one-two, beating Chinese skater Li JiaJun into third place.
Ahn timed 1:27.907. Song was second in 1:28.070 and Li third with 1:28.268.
Ahn Hyun-Soo and Jin Sun-Yu from South Korea added another two gold medals later for South Korea as they won the men’s and ladies’ 3000m races respectively.
Ahn crossed the line with 4:59.733 in men’s 3000-meter, beating American Ohno Apolo Anton into the second place with 5:01.098. Jin topped the women’s race at 5:04.798.
The South Koreans were also invincible in the rink over the relays as they claimed the ladies’ relay title in four minutes and 24.426 seconds, followed by Canada with 4:26.981 and Japan third at 4:27.512.
In the men's 5000m relay, the South Korean team conducted their customary strategy of taking the lead by turns to disturb the normal rhythm of other skaters, which proved to be very effective.
South Korea claimed the men's title with 6:54.483. Canada took the silver and China picked the bronze.
China's Wang Meng and America’s Ohno Apolo Anton split the first day’s titles. Wang finished top in the ladies’ 1500m event on Friday in a time of two minutes 27.619 seconds.
The South Koreans took two of the top three spots in the podium, Choi Eun-Kyung, reigning ISU World Cup champion, finished with 2:27.621 and newcomer Kang Yun-Mi with 2:27.694.
The 2002 Olympic 1500m gold medalist and 1000m silver medalist Ohno Apolo Anton claimed the men's 1500m titles with 2:22.270 seconds. He was followed by defending champion South Korean Ahn Hyun-Soo with 2:22.414.
China's Li JiaJun, who won the silver medal in the men's 1,500m event in 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games, took the bronze with 2:22.656.
Wang and Ohno replayed their performance on Saturday as they again won the 500m events.
Wang won the women's race with 45.037 seconds, 0.17 second faster than her compatriot Fu Tianyu who finished top overall in the women’s 500m event last season with 197 points. Marta Capurso of Italy finished third with 45.816.
Ohno completed the race in 43.663 seconds, followed by Lee Seung-Jae of South Korea with 43.777 and another American Smith Rusty (43.928) following in third place.
With the victories, Ohno and Wang also topped the overall ranking with 97 and 90 points respectively.
Despite his two gold medals in Harbin, Ohno refused to predict the 2006 Olympics.
"Last year I didn't skate very well, but this year I have made a big step. But now it is too early to made predictions about the 2006 Olympic Winter Games because short track is such  a crazy sport," said Ohno.

The Bosideng ISU World Cup consists of six stages across China, North America and Europe held from October to February in which the world’s best short track skaters from over 21 countries and regions will compete for World Cup titles and prize money.

The second event in the series takes place next week in Beijing.

Results

Bosideng ISU World Cup page