2017 Australian Open Short Track Championships Day 2 Race Report 9 th Dec, 2017

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1 2017 Australian Open Short Track Championships Day 2 Race Report 9 th Dec, 2017 Below are the results from all A-Final races on the second day of the 2017 Australian Open Short Track Championships from the O Brien Group Arena in Docklands, Melbourne. Race 40: 1500m Senior Men Final A The A-final was a fast, exciting race for the spectators after a slow start from the opening line. Denali Blunden grabbed the lead after the first corner and set the early speed. He was eventually caught by the Malaysian skater Hazim Shahrum, who eventually had slight contact made between him and Ethan De Rose in the process. Keanu Blunden stole the lead and didn t look back, he was challenged late by a pursuing Joshua Kah on the final lap, but Blunden proved too strong. 1: Keanu Blunden (Arrows) - 2: : Joshua Kah (OSF) 2: : Ethan De Rose (CAISC) 2: Race 44: 1500m Masters Final A The A-final of the Masters 1500m race was always going to be Herbie Labiche s to win, after posting fast heat times on the opening day. Although, the skater who raced out to the lead after the first bend was Victorian, Russell Collins. With four laps down the leading trio were, Collins, Sashen Chetty and Robert Black. They set a slow pace to try and conserve energy with over 800-metres to go. At the 500m mark after Chetty had gained the lead, Labiche and Collins made a move and surpassed him to make it a twoman race with four laps left. Just after the 350-metres, Labiche stormed ahead of his nearest competitor and took home the win with Collins and Frank Anderson rounding out the podiums. 1: Herbie Labiche (Roos) 2: : Russell Collins (OSF) 2: : Frank Anderson (WFIRC) 2: Race 46: Final 1500m Junior and Senior Ladies Final A The start of the 1500-metre junior and senior ladies A-final saw Olympic Southern Flyer, Katie Fabian jump out with a superb start ahead of New Zealander, Mikayla Biggs. The skaters were happy to follow the steady pace set by Fabian until the 500-metre mark, when Siyu Wang and Cheyenne Goh accelerated to put the pressure back on Fabian. Biggs made an inside move with just under three laps remaining and skated away. Cheyenne Goh tried her hardest to stay in contention, but Biggs an exciting future prospect was far too good. 1: Mikayla Biggs (HIRC) 2: : Cheyenne Goh (SISA) 2: : Siyu Wang (OSF) 2:48.934

2 Race 49: 500m Midget Ladies Final A Thailand had two representatives in the final and showed why their juniors were a surprise package at the Championships. Both Kodchakon Kancharin and Thanutchaya Chatthaisong for Thailand worked with each other taking pole position early in the race, before a strong challenge in the final lap by Singapore's Amelia Chua. She managed to beat out Chattahisong for second position, but Kodchakon Kancharin was too dominant, and sprinted home to win comfortably. 1: Kodchakon Kancharin (FSSAT) : Amelia Chua (SISA) : Thanutchaya Chatthaisong (FSSAT) Race 52: 500m Midget Men Final A A good clean start by all races saw a very competitive final, with three lead changes over the short distance. New South Wales Arjun Mootoosamy was performing very well and looked to take out the final, only to have a fall coming around the bend in the final lap. Victoria's Luke Zeliff was the most solid of the pack and took out the final over Hong Kong's Chan Fung Tsui and Chen Hoe Danton Tan. 1: Luke Zeliff (OSF) : Chan Fung Tsui (HKSU) : Chen Hoe Danton Tan (ISAM) - 1: Race 54: 1000m Junior Men Final A One of Thailand's best juniors, Triphop Thongngan, was too strong all the way in the junior men 1000-metre, scoring another victory for his country. Victoria's Ryan Justice pushed him but could only do enough to be awarded second place. Julius Raya of Queensland, had a strong case for a podium position for most of the race, but slipped up with just three laps remaining. 1. Triphop Thongngan (FSSAT) Ryan Justice (OSF) - 1: Edison Lam (Arrows) 1: Race 56: 777m Sub-Junior Ladies Final A A race represented by four nationalities was taken out in the end by Shu Yen Dione Tan. The Malaysian decided to take the early lead in the long distance, and held on all the way to secure victory. However, it was Australia's Annie Vu Quynh Tan had the crowd going, as she crept up from last position and made her move coming into the bend of the last two laps. She was unable to maintain her composure and slipped up towards the end of the race, but continued to fight a valiant effort to finish second place over Kayla Gonzalas of the Philippines.

3 1. Shu Yen Dione Tan (ISAM) 1: Annie Vu Quynh Tan (Arrows) 1: Kayla Gonzalas (PHSU) 1: Race 59: 777m Sub-Junior Men Final A An unfortunate start seconds into the race for Vicko Poon of New South Wales and Nattapat Kancharin of Thailand. Poon took a hit from Nattapat Kancharin and was injured, while Kancharin was given a penalty for the bump and was disqualified from the race. The race was replayed between just the remaining two contestants, Kieran Guan of New South Wales and Marc Gonzalas from the Philippine s. Gonzalas pushed Guan for the whole distance, but could not nudge ahead as Guan skated on to win in comfortable fashion. 1: Kieran Guan (Arrows) - 1: Marc Gonzalas (PHSU) 1: Race 62: 333m Nipper Men and Ladies Final A No surprises in this race, with Victoria's Billie Russell blitzing her competition and winning easily over the three laps. 1: Billie Russell (OSF) : Harry Woo (SSS) : Claire Moon (SSS) Race 108: 500m Senior Men Final A The highly-anticipated A-final of the senior men s 500-metre wasn t without its controversy, as the four-man field was cut down to two due to penalties handed out to Liam O Brien and Skyler Kah. Sydney Arrows skater, Keanu Blunden, glided away to a superb victory as he led from the first corner. Blunden showcased his potential when he was challenged numerous times from Australian teammate and Melbourne skater, Joshua Kah. 1: Keanu Blunden : Joshua Kah Race 113: 500m Masters Final A Regarded as one of the best races of day two, the 500-metre masters event was interrupted by a false-start from Frank Anderson in lane two. All eyes were on the fastest qualifiers Anderson and Queenslander, Herbie Labiche. After the start, Sashen Chetty and Labiche charged into the first bend as Anderson tried to find an opening section to manoeuvre. Labiche set a cracking pace for the master division, with just over

4 100 metres left, Anderson accelerated as he tried to rein in the leading Labiche but ran out of metres and settled for second. 1: Herbie Labiche (Roos) : Frank Anderson (WFIRC) : Sashen Chetty (OSF) Race 115: 500m Junior and Senior Ladies Final A Victoria's Katie Fabian led all the way from start to finish and showed why she is a tough competitor, beating out all others including Singapore's first Winter Olympic representative Cheyenne Goh. A tight photo finish for second place, but Cheyenne Goh just got her blade in front of New Zealand's Mikayla Biggs who skated an impressive race herself. 1: Katie Fabian (OSF) : Cheyenne Goh (SISA) : Mikayla Biggs (HIRC) Race 117: 500m Junior Men Final A Thailand's Triphop Thongngan starting in Lane 1 could not be over taken and scored another victory for the Thai juniors. Ryan Justice battled hard and with 200 meters to go looked to have a chance at taking the lead, but Thongngan sprinted away and Edison Lam of New South Wales caught up to relegate the Victorian skater into third place. 1: Triphop Thongngan (FSSAT) : Edison Lam (Arrows) : Ryan Justice (OSF) Race 119: 333m Sub-Junior Ladies Final A Annie Vu Quynh Nga Le showed why she qualified in Lane 1 winning all the way from start to finish, despite strong challenges from Thailand's Aye Soponkij and Singapore's Kar Weng Soo. 1. Annie Vu Quynh Nga Le (Arrows) Aye Soponkij (FSSAT) Kar Weng Soo (SISA) Race 122: 333m Sub-Junior Men Final A Starting in Lane 1, Kieran Guan got himself off to a great start and never looked back. Kan Soponkij was always battling uphill from his position but never gave up and took second place over Marc Gonzalas.

5 1. Kieran Guan (Arrows) Kan Soponkij (FSSAT) Marc Gonzalas (PHSU) Race 125: 222m Midget Ladies Final A Thailand's Kodchakon Kancharin got off to an impressive start to the race, and could not be overtaken across the short distance. 1. Kodchakon Kancharin (FSSAT) Bryna Thin Len Ng (ISAM) Sophia Moon (SSS) Race 128: 222m Midget Men Final A In his previous heat leading up to the race, New South Wales' Arjun Mootoosamy made a near perfect start and blitzed his competitors from start to finish. He looked to replicate that in the final but went too early and received a penalty. Despite this, he chose not to hold back and got away to another great start under pressure winning comfortably all the way. The battle for second was a hotly contested affair between Victoria's Luke Zeliff and Hong Kong's Chan Fung Tsui. The officials awarded second place to Zeliff after reviewing a very tight photo finish. 1. Arjun Mootoosamy (Arrows) Luke Zeliff (OSF) Chan Fung Tsui (HKSU) Race 131: 111m Nipper Men and Ladies Final A Billie Russell won her second consecutive event in superb fashion with nearly half a lap to spare. Some bad luck for New South Wales' Harry Woo taking a fall on the final bend when he looked to be fighting strongly for a top three finish. 1. Billie Russell (OSF) Jian Jung (SSS) Woojin Charles Ha (SSS) Race 132: 3000m Masters Relay After the completion of the Nippers men and ladies event it was time for the first relay of the day, the Masters 3000m. This relay had four clubs take part, and for some it was their chance to jump out on the ice and show that their skills have not faltered. At the start, it was the Olympic Southern Flyers who raced off to a remarkable lead, with Danny Kah showing immense speed. The relay team from OSF was talent-laden with the likes of, Sashen Chetty, Russell Collins and Raymond Wilby. After the first five laps, they had stormed to a commanding lead. From there on in the OSF master relay team didn t

6 look back, as they powered through the event to take out a terrific victory ahead of the Queensland Roos. 1: Olympic Southern Flyers 4: : Roos 4: : Docklands Demons Ice Racings Club 5: : Sydney Speed Skating Club 5: Race 133: 3000m Sub-Junior Relay The next and final race of day two of the 2017 Australian Open Short Track Championships was the 3000m Sub-Junior relay contested by three ice skating clubs. Before the race there were many excited grins on the faces of the skaters, but just before the start their focus fixed on being the first team across the line. Getting the good start was the fast-paced youngster Arjun Mootoosamy from the Arrows#1. Much like the previous relay the Sub-Junior was completely dominated by the team which gained the lead from the start. After the first 800-metres was complete the Arrows#1 had lapped both their rivals, solidifying their victory with more than half of the race left ahead. The fight for second was left to the Sydney Speed Skating Club after an early crash to the Arrows#2 relay team. 1: Sydney Arrows Ice Racing Club #1 5: : Sydney Speed Skating Club 5: : Sydney Arrows Ice Racing Club #2 6:08.279