Latvian short track skater Bērziņš reaches 1500m semifinals at World Tour stage
Latvian short track speed skater Bērziņš advanced to the 1500 metres semifinals at the second stage of the World Tour. Teammate Roberts Krūzbergs was penalised for contact and will compete in consolation races.
Latvian short track speed skater Bērziņš has reached the semifinals of the 1500 metres at the second stage of the short track World Tour, an international series of skating competitions. The result keeps him in contention for a place in the final of the distance.
In the heats, Bērziņš finished third in his race and moved on to the quarterfinals. There he was third again, but ranked among the four best third-place finishers, which sent him through to the semifinals.
Latvia's other skater, Roberts Krūzbergs, began in the 1500 metres quarterfinals but received a penalty for contact with a competitor. He can still fight for a semifinal place in the consolation races.
Other distances
In the 1000 metres, Bērziņš won through the first round, finishing second in his race, and qualified for the quarterfinals. Krūzbergs was also left without a result after contact with a rival and will compete in consolation races for a place in the next round.
In the 500 metres, the Latvians did not get through the main competition, but on Saturday they can try to reach the quarterfinals via the consolation races.
The rest of the season
Competition begins on Saturday at 14:45 Latvian time and on Sunday at 16:00. The YouTube channel "Skating ISU" broadcasts the events live.
At the opening stage in Vancouver, Canada, Krūzbergs reached the quarterfinals in the 500 and 1000 metres. The World Tour has seven stages this season. The third and fourth take place in the second half of November in Seoul, South Korea, and Shanghai, China, with the fifth in Beijing in early December. In mid-January the skaters will race at the European Championships in Dresden, Germany, while the sixth and seventh stages are scheduled for the first half of February in Gdańsk, Poland, and Tilburg, the Netherlands. The season ends in mid-March with the World Championships in Seoul.
Last season Krūzbergs finished fifth in the 1500 metres at the first World Tour stage in Montreal, and took fifth place in the 1000 metres in Gdańsk.
