Zhou Yang claimed first gold for China at Harbin Universiade

Zhou Yang (C) from China shows the mascot Dong Dong of the game with compatriots Liu Qiuhong (L) and Sun Linlin during the awarding ceremony of women's 1500m speed skating finals at the 24th World Winter Universiade in the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province Thursday February 19, 2009. [Xinhua]

Chinese speed skaters Zhou Yang (L), Liu Qiuhong (C) and Sun Linlin competes during the women's 1500m speed skating finals at the 24th World Winter Universiade in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, February 19, 2009. [Xinhua]

HARBIN, Northeast China, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zhou Yang took the first gold medal for the host China in the women's short track speed skating 1500 meters competition at the 24th Winter Universiade in Harbin here on Thursday.

China became the biggest winner on the opening day of the short track skating as Zhou and her two compatriots swept all the medals in the 1500m final.

The women's 1500m final turned to be a contest between China and South Korea, as each of the two powerhouses booked half of the six berths.

South Korean Kim Hye Kyung, gold medallist in the Turin Universiade in 2007, took the lead in the early stage, before the top skater in the world rankings Zhou skated to dominate the group with four laps left.

Zhou's compatriot Liu Qiuhong and Sun Linlin managed to block other South Koreans' way of counterattack and sealed the victory for China with Zhou clocking the fastest time of 2:31.658.

Liu Qiuhong finished with the silver at 2:31.821 while Sun Linlin took the bronze, timed at 2:32.201.