Japan's Wataru Morishige won the men's 500 meters at the speed skating World Cup round in Poland on Saturday, finishing ahead of overall leader Laurent Dubreuil of Canada and compatriot Yuma Murakami.
Racing in the same pair as Dubreuil at the Arena Lodowa, Beijing Winter Olympic bronze medalist Morishige overcame a slow start to clock 34.78 seconds, edging the Canadian by 0.09.
"This win gives me a good feeling, and it gives me a lot of confidence towards the world championships," said Morishige, who claimed his first World Cup gold of the season and second overall.
Murakami, who is currently second in the World Cup standings behind Dubreuil, rounded out the podium in 35.03.
Japan's Miho Takagi finished third in the women's 1,500 won by Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands, with Norway's Ragne Wiklund taking silver. Japan's Ayano Sato was fourth.
