The second ISU World Development Trophy event of the season was a Short Track Speed Skating event and was held in Dongguan City, Hong Kong China on 16-21 March. The event was hosted by the Hong Kong Skating Union, 19 athletes from 5 ISU Members participated.
The competition was preceded by a week-long training camp moderated by China’s four-time Olympic silver medalist and ten-time World Champion Yang Yang (S), with World Championships silver medalist Zhang Jing and Sun Linlin as assistant moderators.
4 participating Members (Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Chinese Taipei) also took part in the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2014 in Erzurum, Turkey at the beginning of the month, while ISU provisional Member Indonesia participated for the first time in an ISU World Development Trophy event.
The skaters competed in different age divisions: Junior A Men, Junior A Ladies, Junior B Men, Junior C Men (boys), Junior C Ladies (girls), Junior D Men (boys), Junior D Ladies (girls) (combining athletes from more than age categories, as allowed by the Announcement.) Every skater participated in 500-metre and 1,000-metre races.Although as a result of the entry criteria introduced this year the number of Members and athletes was lower than those at the first ISU World Development Trophy held in Singapore in 2013, the level of skating was considerably higher at this event, as demonstrated by both individual and average times. Compared to last season’s Short Track Speed Skating Trophy event, major progress could be identified in several categories, for example in Junior C Ladies the average time of top 3 athletes in 2013 Trophy at 1,000 meter was 2:07,49, while this time in Dongguan the three medalists in this category skated an average time of 1:56, 80 at the same distance.
Topping the trophy standings were Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Singapore, taking 2 first places each, while Malaysia also managed to come first in one of the categories.
Skaters from all participating Members also combined to form mixed relay teams for 2,000-metre exhibition races to experience a team spirit, which was a fitting conclusion to the event successfully organized by the Hong Kong Skating Union enjoyed by all participants.