Domestic figure skaters perform at high level at Cup of China

04:28

Home favorite Jin Boyang defended his title at the 2020 Shiseido Cup of China in Chongqing on Saturday, as Peng Cheng and Jin Yang topped the event's podium for the first time.

Skating to "House of the Rising Sun," two-time world bronze medalist Jin delivered a fairly complete performance, scoring his new personal best of 186.95 in the Free Skate and 290.89 overall to win the title.

The 23-year-old landed a solid quad Lutz and quad toe-double toe to draw applause from the staff and coaches inside the closed-door stadium. He then made a triple Axel triple Salchow combination.

Jin played more of his strengths moving into the second half of the program and hit the second quad toe. The only fall occurred when he was attempting a triple Lutz-triple toe, but overall, the routine was near-solid.

"I'm very satisfied. I practiced this show for two weeks, and I performed better than expected," the defending champion said.

"But honestly, it wasn't my best performance. I will try to be more stable and confident on the rink. I will work harder on my jumps. I hope my showcase can be more fluent and beautiful in the future."

Four-time and current national champion Yan Han gained 172.25 points through his near flawless-performance skating to selections from "La La Land" and 264.81 in total to clinch the silver medal. Teenage skater Chen Yudong placed third with a total of 226.21 points.

04:34

Though Olympic runners-up Sui Wenjing and Han Cong skipped the event, veteran Peng Cheng and Jin Yang made the pairs competition a high-quality affair.

Opening with strong side-by-side triple Salchows in their routine to music from the "Cloud Atlas" soundtrack, the same from their last season, the duo skated better and more relaxed than yesterday in the short program.

Despite the only mistake when Peng doubled her jump on the toe loops, the 2020 Four Continents silver medalists executed an excellent triple twist, throw triple loop, and throw triple Salchow. They earned a new personal best of 148.28 for first place in the Free Skate and overall 223.90 to top the podium.

"We spent a lot of time on our jumps," said Peng, who claimed second place with Jin in last season's Grand Prix Final and Four Continents Championships.

Peng, who took part in both the Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, said the lack of competition under the pandemic didn't much affect her preparation for Beijing 2022.

"I am so grateful that we still can have normal training, and I am so lucky that we can still have big competitions like the Cup of China," Peng said. "The pandemic affected most of the athletes in the world, and we are lucky, so I will try my best to prepare for the Beijing Olympic Games."

Zhao, a former Olympic champion in pairs with Shen Xue, said the duo put great effort into their jumps, and their exhibition rose to a higher level.

"Peng Cheng and Jin Yang executed their plan very well and improved their sliding skills," he said. "They learned the new programs quickly and showed good ability."

04:23

The women's singles competition saw the victory of Chen Hongyi in the free dance event.

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 Toe loop-double Loop combination.

Despite a few mistakes, the 18-year-old skater collected 121.90 points in the 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 [of the] gestures were designed from her peacock dance," Chen said.

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

04:31

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 [of the] 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. They took the silver with a total of 192.26 points. The third place went to fellow Chinese Ning Wanqi and Wang Chao.

(CGTN's Meng Qingsheng contributed to the story.)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency