Hungary, Netherlands shine in first day of European Short Track Skating

Hungarian skating brothers Shaoang Liu and Shaolin Sandor Liu, as well as Dutch skater Suzanne Schulting were at the top of the first day of finals of the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships, in Debrecen (East Hungary) on Saturday.

Shaoang Liu won the men's 1,500 meters final.

"We hoped for a double victory just as in Dordrecht last year, it is a pity that we did not manage to do that. We will try to put ourselves there in the following races. Of course I am happy for the European Champion gold, but there is some sorrow in me," Shaoang said after the win.

He hinted at the seventh place of his brother, Shaolin Sandor Liu, who slipped out in the final lap of the final.

Shaoang Liu won the race with a time of 2:25.871, the silver medal went to Dutch skater Itzak de Laat (2:25.960) while Vladislav Bykanov from Israel got the bronze with 2:26.075.

In the ladies' 1,500 meters, Suzanne Schulting from the Netherlands won the gold with a time of 2:35.915, followed by Italian skater Arianna Fontana (2:36.134), while Anna Seidel from Germany came in third with 2:36.319.

Later in the day, Suzanne Schulting strengthened her image with a second gold as she won the 500 meters in 43.442 seconds. Italian skater Martina Vacepina finished second in 43.568, followed by Poland's Natalia Maliszewska in 43.709.

In the men's 500 meters competition, Shaolin Sandor Liu made up for his slip in the 1,500 meters race and won with 41.244, just before his brother Shaoang Liu (41.517), while Semen Elistratov came at the third place in 41.686.

The Liu brothers were born to a Chinese father and Hungarian mother. They won the gold medal in the men's 5,000m relay short track speed skating in Pyongyang in 2018, securing Hungary's first ever Winter Olympic gold medal.

The European Short Track Speed Skating Championships started on January 24, and will end on January 26.

About 4,000 spectators were cheering for the skaters, according to Hungarian news agency MTI.