5,000m relay victory sweetest, says Chinese skater

China claimed sweet revenge in men's 5,000m short track speed skating, as Wu Dajing led his teammates to a close victory over South Korea at the Asian Winter Games on Wednesday.

Wu, disqualified from an earlier 1,000m race following a tangle-up with a South Korean, said the 5,000 win was the result of good team work.

"We are delighted that we beat South Korea after a disappointing 1,000m," said Wu, China's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony.

Wu, along with Ren Ziwei, Han Tianyu and Xu Hongzhi, had been trading the lead with South Korea and Japan before storming home first ahead of South Korea to take China's third short track gold in Sapporo.

Japan took the bronze medal.

"Our next goal is the world championships, which will take place in about two weeks," said Wu.

Wu said team officials encouraged them to "pull teeth from the tiger's mouth" and stand up to the challenge from South Korea in the coming worlds and next year's Olympic Games.

South Korean skaters were unbeatable at the other three events as they wrapped up their short track campaign with five golds out of eight available.

Shim Suk-hee won the women's 1,000m gold over teammate Choi Min-jeong, and the two went on to lead the country to the 3,000m relay gold medal.

South Koreans Seo Yi-ra and Sin Da-woon finished 1-2 in the men's 1,000m final.

Ren Hongguo, general secretary of the Chinese delegation, told Xinhua that South Koreans were better prepared for the Asian Games.

He admitted there remains a gap between China and South Korea on short track, which was proven by the number of golds won by South Korea. Endit