China wins relay golds, S. Korea claims one more title

 　　SHANGHAI, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Hosts China showed their power in teamwork on Sunday as they claimed both the men's and women's relay 1 golds at the ISU World Cup Short Track speedskating Shanghai leg.

　　South Korea continued their good form to win their third title in Shanghai.
　　"We consider the relay gold most important," said Li Yan, head coach of the Chinese team. "So I am happy with the result. However, the team still have many problems and we will deal with them in the future."
　　In the women's 3,000-meter relay, the Chinese foursome, Li Jianrou, Liu Qiuhong, Fan Kexin and Xiao Han, beat the United States to clinch 2 the title in four minutes and 12.394 seconds.
　　The relay started with the United States in the lead but China overtook the position with only four laps to go.
　　Li Jianrou, runner-up of the 1,000m on Sunday, surpassed 4 the American skater with a strong spurt 5 and helped China to win the title. The United States took the silver in 4:13.000, while Japan was the third in 4:13.763.
　　"We are very delighted to win the gold medal at home," said Liu Qiuhong. "We only took the bronze in the last stop of the World Cup, and this time we got what we want."
　　Talking about the overtaking, Li said:"Actually it's not a choice, it's my responsibility. We are a team and to win the gold medal is our goal."
　　The men's 5,000m relay gold was also clinched 6 by China. Canada dominated 7 most of the race, but a South Korean skater intended to block a Canada's skater in the last lap, which resulted in the South Korean team being disqualified and the Canadian fell down.
　　The Chinese team took the chance and won the gold in 6:38.567. Canada was the second in 6:48.858, while Britain got the bronze in 7:02.363.
　　"Everything is changing during the race," said Liang Wenhao, who won the title with Song Weilong, Yu Yongjun and Wu Dajing. "We caught the chance when we had it."
　　South Korea claimed their third gold Sunday by Kwak Yoon-Gy in the men's 1,000m.
　　Kwak, trailed two Canadian skaters at the beginning, but he managed to surpass 3 them with a last-lap spurt to win in 1:25.300. Canada's Olivier Jean took the silver in 1:25.451. Noh Jinkyu of South Korea, who broke the world record to win the men's 1,500m on Saturday, settled for the bronze in 1:25.971.
　　The United States won their first gold medal in Shanghai leg by Katherine Reutter in the women's 1,000m.
　　Reutter, runner-up of the women's 1,500m Saturday, beat arch 8 rival Chinese Li Jianrou to finish first in 1:32.721. Li, winner of the event at last week's Nagoya World Cup, took the silver in 1:32.864. Japanese Sakai Yui was the third at 1:32.882.
　　Arianna Fontana of Italy claimed the gold medal of the women's 500m. The Italian led throughout the final to win the title in 44.026, while Chinese skater Liu Qiuhong trailed in 44.111. Fan Kexin, winner of the event in 2010 world championships in Bulgaria, came back from a slow start to take the bronze in 41.178.
　　In the men's 500m, Charles Hamelin of Canada clinched the gold in 40.905, while Jon Eley of Britain took the silver in 41.054. Liang Wenhao of China, bronze medallist of the event in 2010 world championships, finished third in 41.178.
　　The 2010/2011 ISU World Cup Short Track includes six stops, namely Salt Lake City, Saguenay, Nagoya, Shanghai, Moscow and Heerenveen. The Shanghai leg runs from Dec. 9 to 11.