After a dramatic night when luck was never on its side, China's gold-hunting short-track speed skating team opted to trust the process and keep pushing for breakthroughs at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Even with two men qualified, following a thrilling 1,500m Final A on Saturday, the Chinese squad came up empty-handed after Sun Long, the fresh 1,000m silver medalist, and his two-time Olympic champion teammate Liu Shaoang — due to an unexpected collision with British skater Niall Treacy — both crashed out of the track midway through the 13-and-a-half-lap race at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

The chaos caused by Treacy, who was penalized for illegal contact, knocked Liu and Sun off balance, tripping both of them right when the Chinese duo was poised to launch an overtake with five laps to go in the crowded nine-skater final.

Adding to the misfortune, Sun was apparently hurt in the crash as he was seen leaving the rink with his right knee bandaged with blood seeping through the gauze.