China's Wang Meng went into the quarterfinal of women's 500m group one at the 2008-2009 Short Track World Cup on Friday while most host athletes advanced.

The Capatial Stadium witnessed no golds in the opening day of the three-day tournament. Wang Meng ranked first both in preliminaries and heats, while her teammates Liu Qiuhong, Fu Tianyu both easily qualified. The three athletes will run for the gold in Saturday's final.

Zhou Yang, winner of women's 1500m at World Cups in United States and Canada, qualified to the semifinal with Zhao Nannan and Zhang Hui.

Chinese male athletes found obstacles on their way to the qualifications of 1000m and 1500m race while Li Ye, Guo Jialiang and Wang Hongyang qualified to the semifinal of men's 500m group one.

Host teams made to semifinals in men's 5000m relay and women's 3000m relay.

Four gold medal will be awarded in Saturday's races, which are men and women's 500m Group One and men and women's 1500m races.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2008)