Perfect start for Jordan Pierre-Gilles in Nagoya

The Asian part of the short track World Cup calendar began yesterday in Nagoya, Japan. 

By Jackob Savard

Photo: Sébastien Cadorette

Without much surprises, skaters such as Suzanne Schulting, Kim Boutin, Lara van Ruijven, Choi Minjeong, Liu Shaolin Sandor, Liu Shaoang and Wu Dajing qualified for both of their individual distances. As always, qualifying day didn’t go as planned for some other skaters. 

1000m heats

Nothing major happened in the 1000m heats besides the fact that Chinese Qu Chunyu and Korean Noh Do Hee didn’t qualified for the top bracket. Also, Russian Sofia Prosvirnova was in a crash but got advanced. In the men’s competition, Abzal Azhgaliyev, Cédrik Blais and Kim Dagyeom are amongst the skaters who will have to skate the repechage rounds tomorrow morning since they weren’t able to qualify today. After a great race today on 1000m, Canadian Jordan Pierre-Gilles will skate the top group on the distance at his first World Cup in career. 

1500m (1) quarterfinals

There was a lot of action in the ladies’ 1500m quarters. In the first heat, Belgian Hanne Desmet and Hungarian Petra Jaszapati crashed together. Desmet was advanced but Jaszapati will be able to race the repechage tomorrow since she wasn’t given a penalty for the incident. A couple of races later, Hungarian Deanna Lockett was disqualified on a move on French skater Tifany Huot Marchand who was advanced. Another similar incident happened the next race as Russian Ekaterina Efremkova was penalised on Korean Seo Whi Min. The men’s races were calmer and there were no big surprise. 

500m heats

Following her crash in the 1500m (1) quarters, Korean Seo Whi Min wasn’t able to start her 500m heat in the afternoon. Russian Sofia Prosvirnova was penalised in her race. On the men’s side, the biggest event was the yellow card awarded to Chinese Ren Ziwei in the third heat. Canadian Jordan Pierre-Gilles won his 500m race and qualified for the top group for his second individual distance. 

1500m (2) quarterfinals

Some tight passes were tried in the 1500m (2) quarters which resulted in Chinese Li Jinyu and Canadian Genève Bélanger being advanced. Another yellow card was given on the men’s side of the competition as Korean Kim Dagyeom was penalised for a move on Nurtilek Kazhgali from Kazakhstan. Also note the great race from Canadian Sebastien Gagnon who reached the top group on 1500m at his first World Cup in career.

Our team would like to wish all the best to Canadian short track speed skater Maxime Laoun who’s currently recovering from a life threatening crash he suffered in training this week. 

For the complete results of the World Cup, click HERE

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