Liu brothers quickly into high gear

China's Liu Shaoang speeds to victory in the 500m final at the ISU World Cup season opener in Montreal, Canada on Sunday. [Photo/AP]

Team China's new additions throw down the gauntlet with scintillating performances at World Cup opener

China's new-look short-track speed skating team showcased its huge potential at the World Cup season opener in Montreal, Canada, over the weekend.

Relentless, unpredictable and packed full of overtaking and collisions — the return of the elite series certainly didn't disappoint, while the performances of Team China's new arrivals threw down the gauntlet to their international rivals.

Led by three naturalized skaters — Hungarian-born twin brothers Sandor Liu Shaolin and Liu Shaoang as well as Lin Xiaojun, known as Lim Hyo-jun in his native South Korea — Team China bagged golds in the 2,000m mixed relay and men's 500m. There were also plenty of high-intensity tests for China's youngsters at Maurice Richard Arena.

The return of the Liu brothers, following a mandatory one-year gap to adhere to eligibility rules to represent China, drew major headlines in Montreal, with the short-track community marveling at the speed and strength the siblings have maintained throughout their break.

"We had a year's rest, but it feels so great to come back," the younger brother, Shaoang, told isu.org after winning the 500m gold in 40.875 seconds on Sunday.

"To feel the pressure and to have this feeling for racing again is amazing. I am really happy. I can be here to represent China today, and that's a great feeling. The race was exciting."

Born to a Chinese father and Hungarian mother in Budapest, the Liu brothers opted to switch allegiance after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. They have been frequent visitors to China throughout their careers, and were keen to take advantage of better training conditions and to continue staking under the guidance of their long-term coach Zhang Jing, who last summer returned from a highly successful stint with the Hungarian team to work with the Chinese squad.

The Liu twins' familiarity with Zhang and the Chinese national program helped them complete a smooth transition, as evidenced by their scintillating performances over the weekend.

As the reigning Olympic 500m champion, Shaoang showed he's still the man to beat in that distance by leading from start to finish to claim gold ahead of Canadian runner-up Felix Roussel and bronze medalist Quentin Fercoq of France.

The 25-year-old two-time Olympic gold medalist, however, admitted that he still needs more races to fully shake off the rust.

"I missed a lot, so I need to get back into the rhythm. I wasn't very satisfied with my skating yesterday. I got a penalty that I deserved, but I feel like I can do much better, and I will do much better," he said, referring to a penalty he picked up in the 1,000m quarterfinals on Saturday.

The Liu brothers anchored a Chinese quartet, also including young women's duo Gong Li and Zang Yize, to victory in the 2,000m mixed relay, clocking 2:40.683 following a crash-disrupted first start.

The crash forced China's starting leg Lin to withdraw due to a pain in his arm, prompting head coach Zhang to replace Lin with Shaoang, who went on to help China clinch gold in an event the host nation won at Beijing 2022.

"It is like we never left," said Shaolin. "It's amazing. This was our goal, to have a good result in the first competition, and I'm so happy. Hopefully we are going to get even better in the next competitions."

Both fluent in Mandarin and familiar with Chinese culture, the brothers attributed their quick start to a solid offseason training program at the national team base in Beijing.