by Sportswriter Zhang Han
BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Despite having touched down with his hand on a quad lutz and turning out of a quad toeloop, local favorite Jin Boyang still got a season best 93.89 points after skating to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" at this weekend's Cup of China Grand Prix skating tournament.
Thanks to the short program score, Jin, 20, managed to maintain an overall second-place finish after his free skate, albiet with some shaky quads, and was ruled just fifth among 12 men's singles competitors in total.
The Cup of China was the third of six ISU figure skating Grand Prix series events, and the headliners looked to demonstrate their podium potential with the arrival of the 100-day countdown to the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Jin was as eager as his fellow competitors, especially after his one-year older teammate Yan Han, who claimed the country's best result in an Olympics after finishing 7th in Sochi 2014, suffered a shoulder injury and had to go under surgery just seven months ago.
The two-time and current world bronze medalist, assumed to be the most hopeful of China's male figure skaters ahead of the upcoming Pyeongchang Games, admitted that he'd been wavering before deciding on the famous movie soundtrack to accompany his routine.
"We discussed a lot, tried more and turned down all of them, before we agreed to stick to the Chinese style," said Jin.
A Chinese Wuxia movie released in 2000, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was very well received in the Western world, and led to a boost in popularity for this Chinese film form in places where it had previously been little known.
Jin watched the movie twice in order to better understand the soundtrack and to better interpret the program.
"Skills and difficulties can earn high scores in some areas, but raw skills are not enough when more and more skaters can do various quads," said the talented jumper, who is trademarked with a solid quad Lutz, which's more difficult than a quad toeloop.
He also wanted to try on something new, distinct from his former "young boy" style, something slow-paced and with a grander theme, added the Harbin native.
"Jin is not the only one skating to Chinese music," said the Chinese national team's head coach Zhao Hongbo, a retired pairs skater who claimed the country's first figure skating gold medal in the Olympics in 2010 together with now his wife Shen Xue.
One of the leading Chinese pairs, Peng Cheng and Jin Yang, have opted to skate to the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto in their free skate this season.
"We've always believed in the strength of China's traditional culture and arts," explained Zhao.
"After all, there comes the Winter Games and no one's fighting alone on the Olympic stage. Every skater or skier is an ambassador sent by China, and it's our job to do the country proud. That's what really maters at the end of the day," he emphasized.
The opening ceremony for the Cup of China at the Capital Gymnasium was highlighted by a synchronized skating show performed to Beijing Opera.
"Figure skating is a perfect combination of competition and art. We tried to add some local elements to the show, and it turned to be very successful," said Zhao's wife Shen Xue, who is now the vice president of the Chinese Skating Association.
"People loved it! The audience enjoyed it and the foreign viewers learnt more about China through it. This helped us better prepare for hosting the Beijing Winter Games in four years," she added.
The Capital Gymnasium, which has hosted the Cup of China Grand Prix for years, is scheduled to become the Olympic venue for figure skating at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.
