Li wins 1,500m short-track title with big names missing

CHANGCHUN, Northeast China - A newcomer to Chinese short-track speedskating won the women's 1,500m title at the national winter games last Sunday with big names Wang Meng and Zhou Yang absent in the rink, while top speed skater Wang Beixing had to wrap up the winter games without a gold.

Wang Beixing, a 500m specialist, failed to live up to her fame as the 2010 Winter Olympics bronze medalist was beaten by Zhang Hong of the PLA in the women's short-distance all-around and finished all her competition with just a silver and two bronzes.

In the short-track rink, however, unknown Li Jianrou, a 25-year-old native of Jilin city, clocked the fastest time of two minutes and 27.002 seconds in the women's 1,500m final, edging teammate Kong Xue into second place by only 0.110 seconds. Changchun's Zhang Qichao had to settle for the bronze at 0.01 second further back.

As four-time Olympic champion Wang Meng was ruled out of the winter games due to a domestic suspension, Zhou Yang, who attended the pre-tournament practice with Changchun team, was the biggest name in the short-track competition but had skipped the first two days' events.

"I think I deserve to win," said Li. "I might be less known than Wang Meng and Zhou Yang, but I could be a very competitive rival even if they were here."

Wang Meng was expelled from the national team last August after an internal drunken brawl and handed a ban without a clear date for comeback, while twice Olympic champion Zhou, a close friend of Wang, has missed Saturday's individual pursuit before her speciality on Sunday without giving a clear explanation.

Liu Qiuhong and Fan Kexin, also national team members, failed to make the women's 1,500m short track final, as the skaters from hosts Jilin province occupied six out of eight spots in the final.

For the men's 1,500m short track final, world champion Liang Wenhao claimed the gold for the hosts with 2:20.057, beating Song Weilong of the PLA and Harbin's Wang Hongyang.

On the curling field, the women's defending champions Harbin team, led by national skipper Wang Bingyu, won the final 9-7 over the surprising finalists Urumqi, while their men's counterparts, also mainly made up of national players, breezily beat Erdos for the title.

The skiing base of Beidahu resort was visited by some real big names on Day 5 of the National Winter Games, as former Olympic gold medalist Han Xiaopeng watched the freestyle aerials team events.

With the 2014 Sochi Olympics approaching, Han, who has been studying at the Beijing Sports University following the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, didn't rule out the chance of a return to the sport.

"I would say I am just semi-retired. I will jump again if my country needs me," said the 29-year-old.

The last two golds of Alpine skiing slalom went to Jiamusi's Zhang Yuxin in the men's and Qin Xiyue of the PLA in the women's, while Changchun occupied the top four positions in the men's nordic combined and all podium finishers of the women's short-distance cross country were from the Harbin team.