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S. Koreans cruise through heats in Day 1 of Short Track World Cup

December 19, 2014

(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Yonhap) — Homegrown skaters cruised through heats and preliminaries on the first day of the International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Seoul on Friday.

In the men’s 1,000 meters at Mokdong Ice Rink, Kwak Yoon-gy, Han Seung-soo and Seo Yi-ra all made it into the quarterfinals. Kwak and Seo were winners of their heats and Han finished second in his.

The host country also put three skaters into the semifinals in the men’s 1,500ｍ, as Park Se-yeong, Sin Da-woon and Lee Jung-su all finished first in their heats.

Three South Koreans will compete in the quarterfinals of the women’s 1,000ｍ, with Shim Suk-hee, Kim A-lang and Jeon Ji-soo moving on with relative ease.

In the women’s 3,000ｍ heats, Noh Do-hee, Lee Eun-byul and Choi Min-jeong all advanced to the semifinals. Noh and Choi won their respective heats, while Lee finished third in hers.

Choi, a 16-year-old sensation with five World Cup medals so far in her first senior season, wasn’t as fortunate in the 1,500ｍ heats, as she tripped up on another skater and fell down to finish fifth in her heat.

Among her teammates, Shim and Noh made it to the semifinals.

On Saturday, the finals for the men’s 1,000ｍ and 1,500ｍ and for the women’s 1,000ｍ and 3,000ｍ, and the semifinals for the men’s 5,000ｍ relay and the women’s 3,000ｍ relay will take place.

Finals for all other races are scheduled for Sunday.