With athletes from 29 countries, a skater from Brazil who competed this season for the second time and an skater from India who was competing for the first time, the fifth edition of the Bosideng ISU World Cup Short Track series in Budapest was one of the biggest competitions held this season. The event was dominated in the ladies’ competition by Korea and in the men’s competition by Canada.
The 1500 meters for ladies was a show of power by the Koreans. They had three skaters in the final. Only Amanda Overland (CAN) could come in between in the last laps and finish second. Eun-Kyung Choi (KOR) won the final and Sun-Ju Jin (KOR) was third. In the 500 meters the Chinese skaters were the strongest. The gold and silver medal went to the Chinese with Tianyu Fu first and Meng Wang second. Evgenia Radanova (BUL) took the bronze medal. The 1000 meters was again Korean dominated. Apart from the three Korean skaters only Meng Wang succeeded in making it to the final and finished fourth. From the moment the gun was fired the Koreans took the lead, Eun-Kyung Choi (gold), Yun-Mi Kang (silver) and Sun-Yu Jin (bronze). The final distance, the 3000 meters, was skated as a non-medal contest. After a few laps the three Korean skaters took the leading positions and never relinquished them. The first three places on the finish line where for Korea. Sun-Yu Jin was first in 5.21.404, Eun-Kyung Choi second and Yun-Mi Kang third.
The ladies’ relay was a competition between China and Korea with the others behind. China just edged out Korea on the finish line. Canada finished third and Russia fourth.
The men’s competition was also very exiting. In the 1500 meters in the semi-final Matus Uzak (SVK) went a lap ahead, which is very rare in international short track. The public in the stadium applauded for the move, with which he qualified for the final. In the final three Korean skaters were leading the race. Only Charles Hamelin (CAN) had the power to attack and was leading the pack lap after lap. In the last lap he paid for his earlier efforts. Hyun-Soo Ahn (KOR) passed him just before the finish line and then Apolo Anton Ohno (USA). Hamelin was third. The 500 meters victory went to Canada. Seung-Jae Lee (KOR) had to accept the Canadian skater Mathieu Turcotte and François-Louis Tremblay in front of him. They finished first and second respectively, leaving the third place for Lee ahead of Ohno. In the 1000 meters quarter-finals Seung-Jae Lee (KOR) was disqualified with a yellow card and immediately excluded from the competition. In the semi-finals Hyun-Soo Ahn was disqualified for committing an offence against Ohno, after which Ohno was advanced to the next round. In the other semi-final Fabio Carta (ITA) missed qualifying for the final because Suk-Woo Song and Francois-Louis Tremblay were in slightly better position at the end of the last curve. In the final Charles Hamelin showed his power to take the gold, ahead of Suk-Woo Song and François-Louis Tremblay. The men’s 3000 meters was also a non-medal contest with only points for the overall-classification. The top eight skaters competed in this final. Suk-Woo Song (KOR) and Hyun-Soo Ahn (KOR) were leading the pack. Ohno was close and putting on the pressure. With seven laps to go Hamelin (CAN) passed inside Suk-Woo Song with the result that both skaters fell and Song was injured. The race was stopped and Hamelin disqualified with a yellow card.
After the re-start for a new race over 27 laps, in which the whole pack stayed together to almost the finish, the race was controlled by the Canadian skaters. It was Apolo Anton Ohno who took the lead a few laps before the finish and won the sprint for the line. François-Louis Tremblay took second spot and Mathieu Turcotte (CAN) third.
In the men’s relay final three teams were competing. After a fall by Canada, Italy and China were constantly changing the leading position. In the last lap Italy won the sprint. China was disqualified and Canada consequently was second.
The last competition of the Bosideng ISU World Cup series will take place 10-12 February in Spišská Nová Ves (SVK).
Results
Bosideng ISU World Cup page
