Canadian figure skater Gabrielle Daleman leads the pack after the ladies' short program at the Cup of China in Beijing.
The Newmarket, Ont., native earned a score of 70.65 on Friday to narrowly edge Wakaba Higuchi of Japan at 70.53 and Russia's Elena Radionova at 70.48.
CBC Sports will have live coverage of Saturday's free programs, beginning with the ice dance at 2:30 a.m. ET.
Skating to Carmen, Daleman opened with a triple toeloop and added a triple lutz and a double axel.
''I was very happy with how today went,'' said Daleman, 19. ''It's another stepping stone in a long season and it's a great way to start my year on the Grand Prix. There's lots more to improve and I can't wait to keep building on it.''
Mikhail Kolyada of Russia opened up a sizeable lead in the men's short program with a score of 103.13. China's Boyang Jin sits in second place at 93.89, while Javier Fernandez of Spain is third with 90.57. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., is 10th with a score of 64.40.
Kolyada turned in a near flawless routine that featured a quad lutz, a quad-toeloop-triple toeloop and a triple axel.
Russia’s 15-year-old Alina Zagitova rose from fourth to win her grand prix debut event on Saturday, while compatriot Mikhail Kolyada took the men’s singles despite a mistake-marred routine.
Skating to “Don Quixote,” Zagitova, the 2017 world junior champion, had the crowd clapping along to the jump-laden second half of her routine, cleanly landing a triple lutz and triple salchow as well as a sequence of dazzling spins on her way to top an extremely tight field.
With the first three finishers after Friday’s short programme separated by barely a point, Zagitova leapt to victory with 144.44 points for the free skate and a total of 213.88.
“To win the gold medal in my first grand prix means a lot to me but I need to continue to work and I cannot rest on my laurels,” Zagitova told reporters. “I was not pleased with my short programme but I was pleased with the free (skate) as I did everything.”
Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada skated off with the gold medal, his first at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. World bronze medalist Boyang Jin, of China, claimed the silver medal and USA’s Max Aaron (USA) pulled up from fifth place to claim the bronze.
Skating to Elvis Presley songs, Kolyada fell on his opening quad Lutz but recovered to land a triple Axel-triple toe, quad toe and four triple jumps. The Russian Champion collected a level four for his spins and footwork, but singled an Axel and popped the Salchow into a double. With 176.25 points, the Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist was ranked third in the Free Skating, but overall remained in first place at 279.38 points.
“I can’t yet really believe it, but I am happy. Not everything worked out today, I made some major mistakes and this is something I will work on,” the 22-year-old commented. With a gold from China and his bronze from Russia, Kolyada has a good chance to make the Grand Prix Final.