SHANGHAI, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea became the biggest winner in the first day of the ISU World Cup short-track speedskating in Shanghai as it won three of the four gold medals Saturday on offer, while Chinese ace Wang Meng made the podium in the 1,000m event for the first time of this season.
Fifteen-year-old South Korean Shim Suk Hee, who collected the 1,000m, 1,500m and 3,000m gold at the Calgary leg in the World Cup series in October, led throughout the 1,500m final to win in two minutes 19.463 seconds, followed by Chinese Li Jianrou in 2:19.465 and Cho Ha Ri, also a South Korean, in 2:19.468.
Li attempted to surpass Shim in the last meters but failed.
"I tried my best, and Shim was just too strong," said Li.
"The silver is OK to me. My form is getting better, and the silver boosted my confidence. I think we can achieve better results in the following races," she added.
The men's 1,000m title was taken by Kwak Yoon-Gy of South Korea in 1:27.078. China's Liang Wenhao was second in 1:27.198 and Niels Kerstholt of Netherlands third in 1:27.241.
In the women's 1,000m final, Park Seung-Hi of South Korea claimed the gold in 1:30.454. Wang Meng came second in 1:30.558, while Elise Christie of Britain was third in 1:30.582.
Wang and teammate Liu Qiuhong trailed Park and Christie for the most time of the race, but in the last meters Wang surpassed Christie with a strong sprint to finish the second.
"I tried to cooperate with Liu in the final, but there was almost no space left on the inside lane," said Wang. "So I had to wait till Christie slowed down. I found the chance in the last meters to surpass her. She was the No. 1 in the 1,000m last year."
Wang, who was expelled from the national team last August for punching team manager Wang Chunlu after breaking the team rules, had her suspension lifted in September and has dominated the 500m event in the ISU World Cup with a hat-trick of victories at the previous three legs. Yet, meanwhile she could not make to the 1,000m final consecutively.
"I am satisfied with the silver," said the 27-year-old Wang, who has four Olympic gold medals under her belt. "It was my first 1,000m final of this season and I finished with a medal. I think it is good enough."
Russian Victor An ruined a clean sweep by South Korea when he won the men's 1,500m final in 2:17.736, ahead of South Korean Noh Jinkyu in 2:18.043. Canadian Guillaume Bastille grabbed the bronze in 2:19.592.
The 2012/2013 ISU World Cup Short Track includes six stops in Calgary, Montreal, Nagoya, Shanghai, Sochi and Dresden. The Shanghai leg runs from Dec. 7 to 9.