Figure Skating: Cup of China

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Figure Skating: Cup of China Nov 6, 2020 0:43:17 GMT

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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2020 0:43:17 GMT

Two weeks after the completion of Skate America, the figure skating Grand Prix returns with the Cup of China, held in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.

Skate Canada, meant to fall between the two events, was cancelled due to COVID-19 pre-cautions. The Internationaux de France, set for 13-14 Nov., has also been cut due to the pandemic.

Cup of China, however, will go on – albeit without fans in attendance, like Skate America – and will feature only Chinese skaters in a move by the ISU to limit the international travel of skaters.

Olympians Jin Boyang, Yan Han, Peng Cheng and Jin Yang, as well as Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu will all compete. PyeongChang 2018 silver medallists and two-time world champion pairs skaters Sui Wenjing and Han Cong will sit out, however, as Han continue to recover from hip surgery in April.

Here, four things to watch for the event, which is set for 6-7 Nov.

Men: Jin and Yan meet on same ice
Two established skaters are set to face off, though Jin is the one with more recent success, having placed fourth in PyeongChang, won two world championship medals (bronze in 2016 and 17) and won five Chinese national titles, in addition to being the reigning Cup of China champ.

Yan had initially stepped away from the sport after PyeongChang, but made a splash of a comeback 12 months ago by winning silver at Cup of China. Now 24, Yan won the Chinese title for 2020, though he was 10th at Four Continents in February in South Korea.

Yan is also the 2012 Youth Olympic Games champion, and has won Chinese nationals four times.

Jin, the first skater to complete a quadruple Lutz-triple toe combination, will look to defend his title. And Chen Yudong, the reigning Chinese junior champ, will also compete. The 16-year-old finished sixth at the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne in January. This is his senior international debut.

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Peng/Jin look to impress home judges
Without Sui and Han (more on that below) the pairs field is down to just three teams in the discipline that the Chinese have won at least one Olympic medal in over four out of the last five Winter Games.

The reigning junior national champions, Wang Yuchen and Huang Yihang, will also feature. The duo, still both teenagers, placed fifth at the Youth Olympic Games.

Peng and Jin had their best season ever in 2019-20, having joined forces three years prior. They won Skate America, were second at Cup of China, grabbed silver at both the Grand Prix Final and Four Continents and won their third national title together.

Having been fourth at the world championships in 2019, the duo continue to push Sui and Han on the international stage. They’ll skate to programs by Marie-France Dubreuil (short) and Lori Nichol (free) this season.

Sui/Han: Han in ‘recovery’ mode post-surgery
World champs in 2017 and 19, Sui and Han are seen as medal contenders for Beijing 2022 with the Olympics less than 16 months away.

But Han had surgery on his hip joint in April and still needs more time to recover, according to the state-run Xinhua News.

“We had planned to come back at the Four Continents Championships. But as the Cup of China is to be held on home soil, we thought for a while the possibility of competing at Chongqing. However, we finally decided not to be in a hurry," said Han, according to Xinhua.

Sui and Han train alongside Peng and Jin with coach Zhao Hongbo, the Vancouver 2010 pairs gold medal winner (with wife Shen Xue). They also won bronze in Salt Lake City and Torino.

"Although the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on our training plans, generally speaking, everything goes smoothly," said Zhao, who is the head coach of the Chinese figure skating team.

"The Cup of China is like an exam and I hope all the skaters can show their best on the rink."

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Last Edit: Nov 6, 2020 7:24:28 GMT by Admin

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Figure Skating: Cup of China Nov 6, 2020 7:24:36 GMT

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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2020 7:24:36 GMT

Ladies and dance: Open fields
Three-time and reigning Chinese champions in ice dance, Wang and Liu have been back in Beijing since the pandemic hit. In the recent past, the team had made the move to Montreal to train with Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, alongside some of the top ice dance teams in the world.

Chen Hong and Sun Zhuoming, in just their third season together, are two-time Chinese silver medallists and will look to challenge Wang and Liu for podium positions.

In the ladies field, three-time Chinese medallist Chen Hongyi, 18, is the most established skater. She finished 19th at the world championships in 2019.

At Skate America, Lin Shan, who won bronze at Chinese nationals, was sixth. The Texas native switched to skating for China in 2018.

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Figure Skating: Cup of China Nov 6, 2020 22:10:00 GMT

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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2020 22:10:00 GMT

Boyang Jin sits in first with more than a 10-point lead after the Men’s Short Program at the 2020 Shiseido Cup of China in in Chongqing on Friday. Han Yan is in second, followed by the current national junior champion, Yudong Chen.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are primarily domestically run events with domestic skaters and skaters who train in the host country or respective geographical region. As a result, all competitors in this event represent China.

Jin reeled off a solid quad Lutz and quad toe-double toe in his short to “Trio 1 in D” and “Mechanisms” by Kirill Richter. The two-time world bronze medalist also delivered a triple Axel and earned a level 4 on all three spins and footwork, racking up high grades of execution (GOE) for each element along the way. He scored a new personal best of 103.94 for a comfortable lead.

Hongyi Chen leads her fellow country ladies after the Short Program took place at the 2020 Shiseido Cup of China in in Chongqing on Friday. Angel Li sits in second, followed by Minzhi Jin.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are primarily domestically run events with domestic skaters and skaters who train in the host country or respective geographical region. As a result, all competitors in this event represent China.

Performing to “Love Theme” from Cinema Paradiso, Chen landed a triple Lutz-triple toe, but the last jump was slightly underrotated. The triple flip and double Axel were good and the national silver medalist also showed a level 4 flying camel spin to score a new personal best of 64.63 points.

“I am quite satisfied with my performance and I was able to do what I do in my regular practice,” said the 18-year-old from Beijing. “I was a little nervous after not competing in a while and I think I need to get used to the lights and the atmosphere again. It was good that we had two test skates before in my team.”

Last Edit: Nov 6, 2020 22:13:35 GMT by Admin

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Figure Skating: Cup of China Nov 7, 2020 20:48:38 GMT

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Post by Admin on Nov 7, 2020 20:48:38 GMT

Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu maintained their overnight lead to win the gold in Ice Dance after the Free Dance took place on Saturday at 2020 Shiseido Cup of China. The silver and bronze went to teammates Hong Chen/Zhuoming Sun and Wanqi Ning/Chao Wang, respectively.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are primarily domestically run events with domestic skaters and skaters who train in the host country or respective geographical region. As a result, all competitors in this event represent China.

In their sixth appearance at this event, Wang and Liu delivered a dramatic routine to selections from Black Swan which featured level 4 twizzles, combination spin, and lifts – all of which received many high grades of execution (GOE). The diagonal steps and one-foot steps were graded a level 3, and while the 2019 Finlandia silver medalists took a one-point deduction on a costume failure, they still earned a new personal best in in both the Free Dance and Total score (122.61 / 206.84).

“We are pretty happy with today’s performance,” Wang said. “Because of Liu Xinyu’s hand injury, we had a rushed preparation, but we did what we were able to do in practice. After he fully recovers, we hope to polish the program. Compared to last year’s Cup of China, I feel we have matured and have become more experienced.”

Chen and Sun earned a new personal best of 115.69 for second place in the Free Dance after their performance to “I Will Wait for You.” The two-time national silver medalists earned many positive GOEs for all elements, including level 4 twizzles, lifts, and the opening combination spin. Their total score of 192.26 was a whopping 30-point improvement from their last Cup of China event, and they pocketed their first Grand Prix medal.

“For today, we were able to perform like we do in training,” Sun said. “We used the same music (for the Free Dance like last year), but we made a new program via online classes with our overseas coaches. For the future, we hope to bring more emotions into the program.”

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Figure Skating: Cup of China Nov 8, 2020 5:12:30 GMT

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Post by Admin on Nov 8, 2020 5:12:30 GMT

The women's singles competition saw the victory of Chen Hongyi in the free dance event at the ISU figure skating Grand Prix Cup of China on Saturday.

Skating to the famous Chinese song, "I Have the Strength to Fly," Chen opened her routine with a triple Lutz-single Euler-triple Salchow before a triple Toeloop-double Loop combination.

Despite a few mistakes, the 18-year-old skater collected 121.90 points in free dance and earned 186.53 points in total to rank first in her second Cup of China.

"I am quite OK with my performance today, though some movements didn't reach my expectation," Chen said. "I still have a lot of details to improve."

Speaking of the new program, Chen said she learned some moves from Yang Liping, a famous Chinese contemporary dancer. "Some gestures were designed from her peacock dance," Chen added.

Teenage skater Li Angel took the silver medal with a total of 148.33 points, while Jin Minzhi claimed bronze with 135.43 points.

China's Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu claimed the ice dance title on Saturday as well.

Dancing to "Black Swan," Wang and Liu scored 122.61 points to lead the free dance and collected an unbeatable 206.84 points in total.

"We changed some movements because of my hand injury. The showcase will be even more brilliant when I am fully recovered," said Liu, who underwent a hand surgery two months ago.

"We only practiced for three weeks, and we made it today," Wang said with satisfaction.

Wang said she was very excited about the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. "I can dance in front of my home crowd. I must try my best!" she said.

Wang's compatriots Chen Hong and Sun Zhuoming performed well in the free dance to earn 115.69 points and they took the silver with a total of 192.26 points. The third place went to fellow Chinese Ning Wanqi and Wang Chao.