Anna Shcherbakova extended the new reign of Russian 15- and 16-year-olds, making it four wins in four Grand Prix events this season for her group.
Shcherbakova, 15, comfortably took Cup of China by 14.86 points over Japanese veteran Satoko Miyahara, totaling 226.04. Another Russian, the 2015 World champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, was third.
Shcherbakova became the first woman to qualify for December’s six-skater Grand Prix Final by coupling her Cup of China title with her Skate America crown from three weeks ago.
She did so by landing a pair of quadruple Lutzes in Saturday’s free skate -- changing her blue costume to a red one mid-performance -- just as she did at Skate America (though one quad was deemed under-rotated in Chongqing).
Countrywomen Alexandra Trusova and Alena Kostornaia, 15- and 16-year-olds taught quads (Trusova) and the triple Axel (Kostornaia) by the same coaches as Shcherbakova, won the previous two Grand Prix events. They compete separately in the last two competitions the next two weeks, looking to make it an unprecedented Russian women’s sweep of the series leading into the Final.
China’s Jin Boyang took the men’s title by overtaking countryman and short-program leader Han Yan. Jin, a two-time world bronze medalist, earned his first Grand Prix title by 12.08 points, landing two quads in Saturday’s free skate.
Jin is questionable to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, however, since he was sixth at Skate America. He is ranked third in the world by best scores this season behind Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen, who are expected to headline the Final.
China also went one-two in pairs, led by world champions and Olympic silver medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong. Sui and Han, who missed the last Grand Prix season due to her stress fracture in her right foot, tallied 228.37 points in their season debut. It’s the highest score in the world this season, supplanting Russians Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitriy Kozlovskiy by 11.66.
Earlier in ice dance, Russians Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov held on to beat Madison Chock and Evan Bates by 1.35 despite the Americans topping the free dance.
Chock and Bates, who missed the last Grand Prix season due to Chock’s recovery from ankle surgery, earned their seventh straight Grand Prix runner-up finish (not counting Grand Prix Finals).
They will likely clinch a spot in their fifth straight Grand Prix Final spot (not counting last season’s injury absence) and rank fifth in the world this season.
Cup of China
Women
1. Anna Shcherbakova (RUS) -- 226.04
2. Satoko Miyahara (JPN) -- 211.18
3. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) -- 209.10
4. You Young (KOR) -- 191.81
5. Sofia Samodurova (RUS) -- 185.29
6. Amber Glenn (USA) -- 178.35
7. Marin Honda (JPN) -- 168.09
8. Yi Christy Leung (HKG) -- 157.47
9. Chen Hongyi (CHN) -- 155.12
10. Kailani Craine (AUS) -- 149.83
11. Zhu Yi (CHN) -- 139.63
12. Choi Yujin (KOR) -- 131.48
Men
1. Jin Boyang (CHN) -- 261.53
2. Yan Han (CHN) -- 249.45
3. Matteo Rizzo (ITA) -- 241.88
4. Keegan Messing (CAN) -- 237.36
5. Keiji Tanaka (JPN) -- 233.62
6. Cha Junhwan (KOR) -- 222.26
7. Brendan Kerry (AUS) -- 220.31
8. Camden Pulkinen (USA) -- 218.67
9. Zhang He (CHN) -- 217.42
10. Andrei Lazukin (RUS) -- 210.01
11. Conrad Orzel (CAN) -- 192.60
12. Chih-I Tsao (TPE) -- 186.82
Pairs
1. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (CHN) -- 228.37
2. Peng Cheng/Jin Yang (CHN) -- 199.97
3. Lyubov Ilyushechkina/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) -- 190.73
4. Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise (ITA) -- 182.88
5. Ryom Tae Ok/Kim Ju Sik (PRK) -- 179.55
6. Tarah Kayne/Danny O’Shea (USA) -- 178.79
7. Tang Feiyao/Yang Yongchao (CHN) -- 172.53
8. Alisa Efimova/Alexander Korovin (RUS) -- 170.19
Ice Dance
1. Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) -- 209.90
2. Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) -- 208.55
3. Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN) -- 190.74
4. Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu (CHN) -- 186.45
5. Katilin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker (USA) -- 179.96
6. Sofia Evdokimova/Egor Bazin (RUS) -- 169.27
7. Anastasia Skoptcova/Kirill Aleshin (RUS) -- 169.24
8. Chen Hong/Sun Zhuoming (CHN) -- 162.91
9. Guo Yuzhu/Zhao Pengkun (CHN) -- 150.91
10. Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto (JPN) -- 145.35
As a reminder, you can watch the events from the 2019-20 figure skating season live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. Go to NBCsports.com/gold/figure-skating to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season. NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.
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