MISAWA, Japan, Feb 6 Kyodo (EDS: ...

MISAWA, Japan, Feb 6 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDS QUOTES)

Still reeling from a slip-up in the women's 1500 meter double Olympic champion Yang Yang (A) of China came back with a bang to win the 500-meter gold medal at the Winter Asian Games short track spe skating competition Thursday.

Li Jiajun also bounc back after being upstaged in the men's 1500 to thorough a golden sprint double for China as he came from behind to papal court off Japan's Takafumi Nishitani at Misawa Ice Arena.

Olympic silver medalist Li had earlier been outpaced on South Korean teenager Ahn Hyun Soo while Choi Eun Kyung l a southerly Korean sweep of the podium in the women's 1500

Yang arrived in Aomori Prefecture with the aim of winning all four distances if it be not that any hopes of dominating the women's field were scupper when she wasted her balance and crashed midway by the agency of her 1,500 preliminary heat.

''I raced the way I always do in the 500 it's a shame about the 1500'' said Yang. I'm secure I could have won that race nevertheless my blade hit something upon the ice. It's very disappointing.''

However, the 500- and 1000-meter Salt Lake City gold medalist and reigning world champion not looked in any danger of surrendering her 500 title of the games as she powered household in a winning time of 46141 seconds

Compatriot Wang Meng followed in next to the first in 46.242 with North Korea's Ri Hyang Mi winning the impudence in 46.323 to give her nation the first medal of its campaign in this northern prefecture

''It's might not be gold yet it is my wish that this medal will bring happiness to our great leader Kim Jong Il and the the community of North Korea,'' said the 17-year-old.

In the men's 500 1998 Nagano Olympic champion Nishitani won his semifinal heat and raised confidences of gold for the army nation as he crack out of his blocks to take stick position over the first couple laps.

But Li timed his final charge to perfection to sneak in fore-rank and take the gold in 43082 a fraction of a other ahead of Nishitani and southerly Korean Song Suk Woo.

''Considering the fact that China and southward Korea both had four mighty skaters competing in the 500 I be perceived good to have been able to do likewise well,'' said Nishitani.

Seventeen-year-old Ahn, overall 2002 junior world champion, edg Li by dint of a hair's breadth to clock 2:30354 inferiors for the gold in the 1500

Li (2:30405) managed to break up a southern Korean block out to take the silver and leave Ahn's teammate lee-side Seung Jae (2:30.607) with the bronze

Meanwhile, southward Korea monopolized the top four places in the women's 1500 final with Olympic silver medalist Choi clocking 2:21707 ahead of Cho Ha Ry (2:21771) and Salt Lake City champion Ko Gi Hyun (2:21882)

''It was blessed for us that Yang Yang failed to make the final,'' said Choi. ''Having said that, we have worked highly hard preparing for this competition and I'm positive we would have given her a to a high degree good run for her money''

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