BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The short track speed skating new season started on Friday with the opening of the first stop of the ISU World Cup series in Montreal, Canada.
In the competition which runs through Sunday, skaters will compete for individual medals in the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m, and the women's 3,000m, men's 5,000m and mixed team 2,000m relays are also on the schedule.
Most Chinese skaters made it to the next round after the opening day competition. Zang Yize, Xu Aili and Gong Li all qualified for the women's 1,000m quarterfinals, while Fan Kexin failed to make the quarters in the women's 500m. In the men's races, Sun Long and Liu Shaoang both advanced to the men's 1,000m quarterfinals with the fastest finish in their respective groups. Lin Xiaojun, Liu Shaoang and Liu Shaolin all made the men's 500m quarters.
China also made the semis of the women's 3,000m and the men's 5,000m relays.
Some star skaters, including Italy's Arianna Fontana, Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands and South Korean Choi Min-jeong, were absent from the season opener in Montreal.
