China ‘extract a couple of teeth’ from South Korea’s short track tiger to win gold at Asian Winter Games

HARBIN – Triple Olympic champion Choi Min-jeong led the way with three golds, as South Korea dominated the short track speed skating at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin over the weekend.

Short track is one of the few sports with genuine world-class competition at the Winter Asiad and the South Koreans claimed six of the nine titles, with China snaring two and Kazakhstan claiming the last gold.

Choi won individual titles in the 500m and 1,000m. She also helped her country to the 2,000m mixed team gold to complete a career sweep of all five Asian Games titles available to women.

The multiple world champion was, however, unable to retain the women’s 3,000m relay title she helped South Korea win in Sapporo in 2017.

Choi had her team in the lead heading into the anchor leg but teammate Kim Gil-li, who had already won 1,500m gold, made contact with China’s Gong Li and slid out to leave the hosts a clear run to gold.

“Winning gold against the South Korean team is like extracting teeth from a tiger, so we approached that 3,000m relay with a relaxed mindset, our expectations weren’t very high,” China coach Zhang Jing told Xinhua news agency.

“South Korea’s top athletes Kim and Choi are more experienced and competitive compared to some of our athletes, but the gap between us is narrowing.”

Lin Xiaojun, who won Olympic gold for South Korea as Lim Hyo-jun before making a switch to China in 2021, won the hosts’ other gold in the men’s 500m but slipped while leading in the 2,000m mixed team relay final.

The 28-year-old also clashed with South Korea’s 1,500m champion Park Ji-won and slid out in the anchor leg of the men’s 5,000m relay, allowing Kazakhstan’s Adil Galiakhmetov to skate past and claim the gold.

South Korea have topped the medals table in short track speed skating at the last two Winter Olympics and Zhang said the Asian Winter Games had been useful preparation for them ahead of next year’s edition in Italy.

“Our athletes have gained valuable experience for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and learnt lessons, particularly regarding athletes’ mindset,” she told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong on Feb 10 demanded Turkmenistan be punished for a “deliberate attack” that left two ice hockey players needing hospital treatment after a post-match brawl in Harbin.

Several Hong Kong men’s players were knocked down in a fight that broke out on the ice after they beat Turkmenistan 5-1 on Feb 9, according to Chinese state media.

Footage shared on social media showed at least three Turkmenistan players throwing punches at Hong Kong players as referees attempted to intervene.

According to the South China Morning Post newspaper, Turkmenistan’s Erkin Kakabayev, Arslan Geldimyradov and Begench Dovletmyradov attacked several Hong Kong players, with the incident lasting a couple of minutes before order was restored.

“The Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) strongly condemns the deliberate attack causing injuries to Hong Kong athletes by Turkmen athletes,” the governing body said in a statement.

Two injured players taken to hospital were in stable condition, the association said on its website, following the altercation after the men’s ice hockey group C match between Hong Kong and Turkmenistan, without identifying any players.

It added that officials have raised the issue with the International Ice Hockey Federation and that it has asked local organisers to impose “necessary punishment”.

There was no immediate response from the Turkmenistan side.

The Harbin Games are the ninth edition of the regional competition and end on Feb 14. REUTERS, AFP