Digest

WINTER SPORTS

China wins 5,000m relay at Four Continents

The Chinese men's short-track speed skating team claimed the 5,000m relay title at the Four Continents championships in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday.

Li Kun, Liu Guanyi, Song Jiahua and Zhong Yuchen dominated the final to triumph in 6 minutes and 54.766 seconds, with second-placed Japan 1.305 sec adrift. The South Korean team finished third in 7:12.956.

In the mixed team relay, the Chinese quartet of Gong Li, Wang Xinran, Li and Zhong took the silver medal. China led the race at one point but was overtaken by the United States with six laps to go. The US clocked 2:38.095, China finished in 2:38.244 while Canada placed third in 2:46.024.

South Korea won the women's 3,000m relay in 4:04.767, ahead of Canada and the US.

Chinese youngster Gong (1:28.840) claimed silver in the women's 1,000m behind Canada's Courtney Sarault (1:28.615). Another Canadian, Claudia Gagnon (1:28.963), took the bronze.

Park Ji-won of South Korea topped the podium in the men's 1,000m in 1:27.548, followed by the Canadian pair of Pascal Dion and William Dandjinou.

Ning speeds to bronze at World Cup race

China's Ning Zhongyan won bronze in the men's 1,500 meters at a speed skating World Cup meet in Stavanger, Norway on Friday.

Ning clocked 1 minute 46.685 seconds to finish third behind Canada's Connor Howe and winner Jordan Stolz of the United States.

The 18-year-old Stolz became the youngest man to win an individual race in the series' history, clocking a new track record of 1:44.891 at the Sormarka Arena.

In the men's team pursuit, the US prevailed in 3:44.018, with the Netherlands taking silver and Norway claiming bronze.

Norway's Ragne Wiklund (4:03.119) stunned Dutch Olympic champion Irene Schouten (4:05.017) to triumph in the women's 3,000m final on home ice. Canadian Isabelle Weidemann (4:05.460) was third.

In the women's 500m, South Korean Kim Min-sun clocked 37.553 seconds for her first World Cup gold medal. Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands and Japan's Takagi Miho were second and third respectively.

Reigning Olympic champion Erin Jackson of the US was well off the pace, finishing eighth in 38.302.

Qitaihe named 'City of Olympic Champions'

The Chinese Olympic Committee on Friday bestowed Qitaihe the title of "City of Olympic Champions".

Qitaihe, situated in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, has cultivated multiple Winter Olympic champions and world champions, including Yang Yang, Wang Meng, Sun Linlin and Fan Kexin.

Winter sports athletes from Qitaihe have won seven Olympic gold medals, 177 golds at elite international competitions, and 535 golds at national-level events.

Nowadays Qitaihe is the "Key High-level National Sports Reserve Talent Base" and the "National Short Track Speed Skating Qitaihe Sports Training Base". It is also known as the "Hometown of Winter Olympic Champions".

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, short-track speed skater Fan Kexin and her teammates stormed to a thrilling victory, claiming the first gold for China.

The city has been stepping up efforts to train winter sports talents in recent years by building schools that provide short-track speed skating training, setting up a training base for the provincial sports team, as well as staging ice and snow sports events.

Qitaihe currently has 20 short-track speed skating teams, 16 coaches, and more than 600 athletes. In six major sports such as speed skating, ski jumping, and snowboarding, more than 300 athletes have been recruited by the national and provincial teams.

TABLE TENNIS

Fan survives epic battle to reign at nationals

World No 1 Fan Zhendong clinched gold at the 2022 China National Table Tennis Championships, defeating Lin Gaoyuan 4-2 in the men's singles final in Huangshi, Hubei province on Saturday.

Lin, ranked 13th in the world, led 7-4 in the first set but Fan turned the tables to prevail 11-8. The second set was even more intense, with the two tied at 6-6 and 18-18 before Fan again showed his class to win 20-18.

Lin romped to an 11-4 victory in the third set, Fan restored his twoset lead, and then Lin claimed the fifth set 11-9. Fan reigned by the same score in the decider.

"I was a little too hesitant as the match progressed tonight. When it came to the fourth set, I told myself that as long as I believe in my ability to cope with a stalemate, and as long as I'm solid enough, the result can change," Fan said of the epic battle.

Despite failing to overtake the top seed, the 27-year-old Lin enjoyed a highly fruitful championships, pocketing golds in both the men's and mixed doubles.

Also on Saturday, Chen Xingtong and Qian Tianyi defeated Kuai Man and Chen Yi 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 8-11,6-11, 11-7, 11-7 to win the women's doubles title.

Xinhua