Asian Champion Liu Haitao won five final berths at 10th Chinese National Games canoeing competition on Friday in Nanjing.

In the semifinal of the men's K2 500m, Liu Haitao and Li Zhen, from Chinese Army, took the first place in one minute 35.217, going to the final.

In the other four events he participated, Liu win direct berths in the final through preliminaries. The four events were the men's K1 500m, men's K1 1000m, K2 1000m and K4 1000m.

The 23-year-old Liu took up kayak nine years ago. In 1999, Liu grabbed his maiden gold medal in the men's K1 1000m at the Asian Junior Canoeing Championships, and began his haul of golds at national and Asian tournaments.

In 2001, Liu lifted the title in the men's K1 500m at the 9th National Games. Liu also crowned in the men's K1 1000m at the National Championships, and won two gold medals in the men's K1 1000m and K4 1000m at 2002 Busan Asiad.

Semifinals for six events were slated for Friday.

Liaoning, Shandong, Hebei, Sichuan, Henan and Jiangxi went to the final in the men's K1 500m.

The final six berths in the men's C1 500m went to Guangdong ( two boats), Beijing, Shandong, Zhejiang and Jiangxi.

In the women's K1 500m, Shanghai, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hebei, Sichuan and Guangdong took away the final tickets.

As for the men's K2 500m, Beijing, Sichuan, Hunan, Shandong and two Chinese Army boats advanced to the final.

For the men's C2 500m, Shandong, Hunan, Liaoning, Anhui and Fujian (two boats) cruised to the final.

In the last two semifinals slated for the women's K2 500m, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Liaoning and Hebei (two boats) made for the final.

Source: Xinhua