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Zhou Yang wins women's 1500m short track speedskating title

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-19 19:31

BEIJING: Chinese promising star Zhou Yang won the first gold medal at 2009/2010 ISU World Cup short-track, after she finished first in the women's 1500 meters event here on Saturday.

Skating to a thunderous crowd in the Beijing Capital Gymnasium, local sprinter Zhou remained second during the beginning part of the race but sped up strongly in the final laps.

After seizing the leading position, Zhou, ranked 1st in last season's 1500m World Cup competitions, never left any chance to the opponents and hit the finishing line in two minutes 28.600 seconds.

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Lee Eun-Byul of South Korea clocked 2:29.014 to wrap up the silver while Katherine Reutter of the United States, finished third in 2:29.095.

Dubbed as China's promising star, the 18-year-old Zhou set a world record in the 1,500m in two minutes 16.729 seconds in Salt Lake City early this year.

The 2009/2010 ISU World Cup Short-Track includes four stops, namely Beijing, Seoul, Montreal and Marquette in USA. The World Cup competitions in Montreal and Marquette to be held in November have been designated as the 2010 Winter Olympic Games qualifying competitions.