Amber Glenn triumphed over neck discomfort to outshine her fellow U.S. team member Alysa Liu, securing victory in the figure skating Cup of China for the second consecutive year in Chongqing. Glenn, the reigning U.S. national champion, visibly showed signs of neck strain following her free skate routine, where she successfully recovered from an unstable triple toeloop landing early on. Initially ranked third after Friday’s short program, Glenn patiently awaited Liu and Japan’s Rinka Watanabe’s free skate performances to determine her final placement.
Liu slipped to second place with a total of 212.07 points, trailing Glenn’s 214.78 after an unsteady triple flip landing, while Watanabe managed to cling onto the podium but dropped to third position with only the fifth-best score in the free skate segment. Glenn expressed feeling “incredible” and eagerly shared her enthusiasm for both herself and her teammate securing the top two spots on the podium. This event marked Liu’s first podium finish in a Grand Prix competition, despite being a two-time world championship medalist.
In the men’s event, Japan’s Shun Sato successfully defended his title at the Cup of China, executing three quadruple jumps flawlessly in his free skate to accumulate a total of 278.12 points. He maintained his lead over Italy’s Daniel Grassl, who secured second place with 269.43 points, while Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov settled for third place with 262.67 points after stumbling on his final jump.
The ice dance category witnessed world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates claiming their first Cup of China victory after six attempts, scoring a total of 208.25 points to surpass their U.S. counterparts Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, who scored 202.27. The third spot was secured by Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France with a total score of 196.60.
Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava clinched the pairs gold with a score of 217.24, while Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii secured second place, and China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, the 2022 Olympic champions who recently returned from retirement, settled for third place.
The Cup of China serves as the second event in the six-part regular season Grand Prix series leading up to the final in December, providing a crucial platform for skaters aiming for success at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February. The ISU Grand Prix series will now move to Saskatoon for the Skate Canada International event commencing on Oct. 31.
