Winners China's Sui Wenjing (3rd L) and Han Cong (3rd R), runner-ups China's Zhang Hao (2nd L) and Yu Xiaoyu (1st L), third-place-winners Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro (2nd R) pose during the awarding ceremony for the Pairs event at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China 2017 in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)
BEIJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Reigning world champions Sui Wenjing/Han Cong and Yu Xiaoyu/Zhang Hao, led China's pairs to a one-two finish at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Audi Cup of China here on Saturday.
Skating to the music of Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, Sui/Han, who were also Four Continents champions, received a standing ovation at the Beijing Capital Gymnasium for their heartfelt presentation.
The pair were dominant again in the free skating with a season best 150.93 points and romped to the pairs' title with 231.07 points, 25.53 clear of the field. Yu/Zhang were second. Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro of Canada were third on 194.52 points.
"We didn't perform the best, but basically presented the middle level of our training. This is the first show of Turandot in the season. We are generally satisfied with the result. If the components were more complete, I think our score will be five points more in the free skating," said Sui.
European bronze medalist Mikhail Kolyada of Russia upset reigning world bronze medalist Jin Boyang of China, and Spain's two-time world champion Javier Fernandez to take the gold in the men's event.
Though Kolyada failed to win the free skating finishing third, he managed to keep his overall lead to rack up a total of 279.38 points.
"I'm happy with the result. I did make some big errors today. I have to work on it," said Kolyada.
Jin touched down with his hand and made some errors in his performance of Mars (from The Planets) Stars Wars, only ranking fifth in the free skating. However he maintained overall second with a total of 264.48 points.
"My free skating program is a good one, but I didn't skate well. Two weeks before the Cup of China, our choreographer Lori Nichol changed some of the components of my program. I only practice twice after I went back from Finland. I need to practice more on it," said Jin.
Fernandez, who was third after short program, still didn't find back his rhythm today as he fell to sixth in the overall ranking. Max Aaron of the United States climbed to the third with 259.69 points.
Women's event continued the close contest among the top skaters. 2017 World bronze medalist Gabrielle Daleman of Canada, who led the short program by less than a point, made some mistakes in free skating and fell to sixth with a total of 196.83 points.
2017 world junior champion Alina Zagitova, 15, who debut on the senior Grand Prix circuit, thrilled the crowd with a set of triples in her free skating and rebounded from her fourth place in short program to the overall lead on 213.88 points.
"It is my first gold in the Grand Prix, which means a lot to me, but I have to continue to work and can't rest on the glory." said Zagitova.
"I was not so pleased with my short program here, but in the free skating everything worked. I was satisfied with that. I was a bit tired after the competition, but in the free skating I was able to give everything in my training."
Skating to Skyfall performed by Adele, Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist Wakaba Higuchi of Japan captivated the crowd with her passionate performance and remained the second place after free routine, only 1.36 points adrift. Two-time European silver medalist Elena Radionova of Russia sat on third with 206.82 points, 5.7 points behind Higuchi.
In ice dance, Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France, leader in the short dance, underlined their supremacy at the ice again with a solid presentation, topping the free dance at 119.33 points and claiming the gold medal in a total score of 200.43 points.
Madison Chock/Evan Bates of the United States and Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev of Russia kept second and third in the overall ranking with 184.50 and 182.84 points respectively.
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series consists of six events and culminates in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya of Japan in December. The top six skaters/couples in each discipline qualify for the Final.
