Boyang Jin sits in first with more than a 10-point lead after the Men’s Short Program at the 2020 Shiseido Cup of China in in Chongqing on Friday. Han Yan is in second, followed by the current national junior champion, Yudong Chen.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are primarily domestically run events with domestic skaters and skaters who train in the host country or respective geographical region. As a result, all competitors in this event represent China.
Jin reeled off a solid quad Lutz and quad toe-double toe in his short to “Trio 1 in D” and “Mechanisms” by Kirill Richter. The two-time world bronze medalist also delivered a triple Axel and earned a level 4 on all three spins and footwork, racking up high grades of execution (GOE) for each element along the way. He scored 103.94 points for a comfortable lead.
“I did not have so much time to prepare for this competition and this is a new choreography,” said the 23-year-old from Beijing. “I got the program and new skating boots at the end of September. Two weeks ago, I performed this program for the first time at a test skate and today was only the second time.”
Defending silver medalist Yan earned 92.56 points, topping his previous score at this event last year by more than six points. He landed a superb triple Axel and triple flip-triple toe, as well as triple Lutz in his routine to “A Thousand Years.” All three jumps garnered positive GOEs, as did his level 3 footwork and level 4 spins.
“I was able to do what I can do in practice and I did not do anything too difficult technically,” said the two-time and current national champion. “It went smoothly. I do not set too high goals for this competition. I just want to put out two good programs for the audience to enjoy.”
Chen earned 75.74 points in his Grand Prix debut with his skate to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai. The 2019 Asian Open Junior champion stepped out of and put a hand down on the landing of a triple Axel, but managed a triple flip-triple toe and triple Lutz. Two spins were graded a level 4, as was his footwork.
“I am not so pleased with my triple Axel, that was not good,” said the 16-year-old from Qiqihar. “I hope to skate better technically tomorrow.”
He Zhang is currently in fourth place (69.68), followed by Zhiming Peng (69.16) and Juwen Xu (61.96).
