Source: Xinhua
02-19-2009 15:56
Special Report: Harbin 24th Winter UniversiadeHARBIN, Northeast China, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea have showed their power and depth in speed skating after beating the favorite Chinese to win both the women's and men's 500 meters and making all their participants in top eight at the Harbin Winter Universiade here on Thursday.
The peninsula country's No. 1 women skater Lee Sang Hwa held off a strong challenge from the hosts' Yu Jing to take the tournament's first gold medal in dispute with a record setting result.
Her only compatriot in the race, Lee Bo Ra, finished the seventh and Japan's Nao Kodaira was the fifth, while all other places in top seven were occupied by Chinese skaters.
Just an hour later, another short-course expert Lee Kang Seok won the second title for South Korea after narrowly beating Chinese star Yu Fengtong by 0.05 seconds.
The 24-year-old Yu, a former world junior record holder who ranked fifth in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, led the provisional standings after making the first race in 34.98 seconds, just 0.02 less than Lee Kang Seok, but failed to hold on for victory in the second round, clocking 34.89 against the Korean's 34.82.
"I performed well but Lee was better," commented Yu. "He had obviously fully recovered from the recent injuries that cost him several world speed skating series and World Cup races."
