After spending yesterday racing through qualifying rounds in all individual distances, the World’s best junior short track speed skaters took the ice today in Sofia for the Ladies and Men 1500 m and 500 m finals. Chunyu Qu (CHN) concluded the day leading the Ladies classification while Hongzhi Xu (CHN) and Yongjin Lim (KOR) are tied at the top of the leaderboard in the Men’s standings.
Suzanne Schulting (NED) and Yongjin Lim (KOR) win their 1500 m events
Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the Ladies 1500 m today, after taking the lead with three laps to go. She took the lead from Yize Zang (CHN) who ended up receiving a penalty in the race. Suyoun Lee (KOR) finished in second place ahead of Chunyu Qu (CHN) who was third. Junghyun Park (KOR) and Anna Seidel (GER) finished in fourth and fifth place respectively, earning valuable championship points.
In the Men’s 1500 m final, Yongjin Lim (KOR) took the lead with five laps to go and claimed the win in the event. Ziwei Ren (CHN) crossed the finish line in second place ahead of Si Un Kim (KOR) who finished in third place. Wei Ma (CHN) finished fourth while Kazuki Yoshinga (JPN) finished in fifth place. A photo finish review was required to confirm the results as less than nine-tenth’s of a second separated position two to six.
Chinese skaters claim victories in the 500 finals: Chunyu Qu (Ladies) and Hongzhi Xu (Men)
Chunyu Qu (CHN) took the lead in the championship classification by winning the Ladies 500 m event. She took the lead midway through the race and never looked back. Yubin Lee (KOR) finished second while Yize Zang (CHN) finished in third place. Suzanne Schulting (NED) was the other skater in the race and finished fourth.
In the Men’s 500 m, Hongzhi Xu (CHN) crossed the line in first place and earned enough points to tie Yongjin Lim (KOR) at the top of the championship classification. Shaoang Liu (HUN) finished in second place, crossing the line ahead of a pair of Canadian skaters: Steven Dubois finished in third place while his teammate Maxime Laoun was fourth.
The classification after two individual events is as follows in the Ladies competition: Chunyu Qu (47 points), Suzanne Schulting (42 points) and Suyoun Lee (22 points). In the Men’s competition, the classification is as follows: Hongzhi Xu (34 points), Yongji Lim (34 points) and Shaoang Liu (23 points).
Racing resumes tomorrow with the Ladies and Men 1000 m, 1500 m Super Final and the Relay finals. The Ladies Relay final will have the following four teams: Korea, China, Netherlands and Poland; the Men’s Relay final will these teams: Japan, Russia Korea and China.
Additional information
ISU Short Track Speed Skating Media Guide
Results: http://shorttrack.sportresult.com/ or /en/speed-skating/series/isu-world-cup-speed-skating
Live Stream on ISU Skating Channel NB: geoblocking may be required in certain territories
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