At Cup of China this week, Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn make their Grand Prix season debuts, Madison Chock and Evan Bates compete for the first time since April and Sui Wenjing and Han Cong skate for the first time since winning 2022 Olympic pairs’ gold.
Cup of China, the second of six Grand Prix figure skating regular season events, will be a measuring stick for all of those stars on the road to Milan Cortina.
Especially after statement performances from others at the series opener in France last weekend.
Peacock airs live coverage Friday and Saturday of every program across ice dance, women’s and men’s singles and pairs’ events.
A highlight show airs Saturday on NBC at 3 p.m. ET.
2025 Cup of China Broadcast Schedule
| Day | Event | Time (ET) | Platform |
| Friday | Rhythm Dance | 2:45 a.m. | Peacock |
| Women’s Short | 4:25 a.m. | Peacock | |
| Men’s Short | 7 a.m. | Peacock | |
| Pairs’ Short | 8:50 a.m. | Peacock | |
| Saturday | Free Dance | 2:30 a.m. | Peacock |
| Women’s Free | 4:30 a.m. | Peacock | |
| Men’s Free | 6:40 a.m. | Peacock | |
| Pairs’ Free | 8:50 a.m. | Peacock | |
| Recap | 3 p.m. | NBC | |
| Sunday | Exhibition Gala | 2:30 a.m. | Peacock |
Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn lead Cup of China women
Liu, who last March became the first U.S. women’s singles skater to win a world title since 2006, opened her season last month by placing fourth at Lombardia Trophy, a lower-level event in Italy, while dealing with boot problems (a common issue for skaters).
Glenn, the two-time U.S. champion, debuted by winning Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany, recording at the time the world’s second-best score on the young season (214.49).
Then last week, the Japanese women who swept the podium at Grand Prix France all scored higher: Ami Nakai (227.08), Kaori Sakamoto (224.23) and Rion Sumiyoshi (216.06).
This week, Liu and Glenn’s competition includes Japan’s Hana Yoshida and Rino Matsuike, who were fifth and sixth at last season’s Grand Prix Final (won by Glenn).
CUP OF CHINA: Entry List
Everyone is bidding for a spot in this December’s Grand Prix Final. The top six per discipline over the six-event Grand Prix regular season qualify based on their two results in the series. Usually, two podium finishes are enough to earn a spot in the Final, which will be the closest competition to an Olympic preview this season.
Can Chock, Bates match new French ice dancers?
The Americans Chock and Bates won the last three world titles in ice dance, but it’s already clear they face a new challenge this season.
That’s because France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won last week’s Grand Prix in France in their international debut together, even with his fluky fall in the rhythm dance. If not for the fall, their score would have rivaled Chock and Bates’ best scores from last season.
Cizeron and former partner Gabriella Papadakis announced their retirement last December, having not competed since winning Olympic and world titles in 2022. Then Cizeron announced in March his plan to return with Fournier Beaudry, who formerly competed for Canada.
Fournier Beaudry is in the process of obtaining the French citizenship needed to be Olympic eligible. They can compete on the Grand Prix without the citizenship.
Back to Chock and Bates, who come February eye their first Olympic ice dance medals in what would be their fourth Games together (they have team event gold from 2022). They ascended to the world’s top couple in this Olympic cycle in the absence of Papadakis and Cizeron.
At ages 33 and 36, the married Chock and Bates are approaching this season as a “final chapter,” though they have not announced whether it will definitively be their last season.
Chock and Bates have won five of their last six Grand Prix starts dating to the start of the 2023-24 season. None of the other couples in the Cup of China field finished in the top five at last March’s worlds.
So the more notable competition could be the score that Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron posted last week — 211.02, which without the fall would have been closer to 220. Last season, Chock and Bates tallied 205.63 (with a fall), 215.95 and 219.85 in the Grand Prix Series.
Sui Wenjing, Han Cong set for pairs’ comeback
The most anticipated Cup of China event — at least for the arena fans — is pairs. That’s because of Sui and Han, who will compete for the first time since delivering home gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Sui and Han have plenty to prove. Not just to see where they stand among the world’s new top pairs, but also to show they are deserving of China’s one Olympic pairs’ spot in Milan.
This week, they go head-to-head with the pair that earned China that one Olympic pairs’ spot: Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang. Plus world bronze medalists Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii of Italy.
How will Mikhail Shaidorov respond to Ilia Malinin?
Last week, Ilia Malinin won the opening Grand Prix by 40.05 points, just off the largest margin of his eight career victories on the circuit.
This week, the man who was closest to Malinin at last March’s worlds — Shaidorov of Kazakhstan — makes his Grand Prix season debut.
Shaidorov was still a distant 31.09 points behind Malinin at worlds. While Malinin’s score from last week — 321 — is unattainable, Shaidorov does rank third in the world by best score this season (282.22) behind Malinin and Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama (285.91).
Shaidorov and Kagiyama’s early season results will likely decide who goes into the Olympics as the top challenger to Malinin.
