2025 Cup of China Men’s Podium (From L to R): Daniel Grassl (ITA), Shun Sato (JPN) and Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ).
2025 Cup of China: Men
Japan’s Shun Sato won his second consecutive Cup of China title in Chongqing in the Men’s event on Sunday. Daniel Grassl of Italy maintained second place to secure the silver, while Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan pocketed the bronze.
Shun Sato
The two-time Four Continents medalist delivered a beautiful short program to “Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra” to place first with a new season’s best of 94.13. His routine featured quality jumps: a solid quad Lutz, quad toe-triple toe and triple Axel, and two spins were graded a level four.
“I was really pleased with the performance today,” said the 21-year-old. “My six-minute warm up was going really well, so I need to continue to perform like this.”
“I am very happy to come here again,” he added. “Last year I had two great performances here and won my first gold at a Grand Prix event. So, I have very good memories from here, and I had to work hard to prepare for this competition.”
The 2024-25 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist put out a spectacular and flawless free skate which featured a quad Lutz, quad toe-triple toe, and quad toe. He also landed a triple Axel-Euler-triple Salchow and triple Axel-double Axel sequence. Two spins were graded a level four, and all elements in his routine to The Firebird earned positive grades of execution (GOE). He placed first in this segment with a season’s best of 183.99, finishing first overall with another season’s best of 278.12.
“I am very glad that I got season’s best today and with my performance overall,” said Sato. “Preparation for this competition was smooth, so I want to do the same before NHK. It’s going to be a very important competition for me, and I want to deliver what I have and I will work hard to give my best there.”
Daniel Grassl
The 2022 European silver medalist placed second with his short program to selections from Tango per la libertà. He slightly underrotated and turned out the front end of a quad Lutz-triple toe, but then followed up with solid quad loop and triple Axel. He displayed level-four spins and footwork throughout his routine and scored a new season’s best of 90.42.
“I feel okay. I did good practices, and my rotations improved a lot in practice,” said Grassl. “Now I want to do the same in competition. The Lutz was the only thing a bit shaky, and also the step sequence I can perform much better. But overall, I’m happy how everything went, and I know that I can do much better. So that’s a real improvement.”
Skating to music from Conclave, the five-time and reigning national champion reeled off a quad Lutz and quad loop. He underrotated the quad Salchow but landed a triple Axel-double Axel-double Axel sequence. The first jump of a triple Axel-triple toe was landed on the quarter, as well as the back end of a triple Lutz-triple toe. However, all three spins were graded a level four with positive GOEs, and he placed second in the free skate and overall (179.01/269.43).
“I’m very happy that finally I could do my best program so far this season at a Grand Prix,” said the 23-year-old. “That’s the thing I’m most happy about. I was struggling a bit during the warm-up, I wasn’t feeling so good. But when I went on the ice, I knew what to do, and I’m very happy with the result.”
Grassl said he was very nervous ahead of the competition.
“I couldn’t wait for it to be over,” he said. “But then, once I was on the ice, I really enjoyed the moment. Everything was great and nice, and I’m very happy about it.”
The skater said he wanted something Italian when choosing his free skate.
“My coach already told me about it last year, and when the movie came out, everything was such a coincidence,” said Grassl. “Then the real Pope also passed away. When we started working on the choreography, we wanted something very Italian, especially with the Olympic Games coming to Milano-Cortina. We also put a lot of details into the program, so it’s a really nice one to skate.”
Grassl will compete again in three weeks at Skate America.
Mikhail Shaidorov
The 2025 World silver medalist produced an excellent triple Axel and quad toe in his rock and roll short program to “In the Air Tonight” and “No Good.” The only error in this routine came when he underrotated the front end of his opening quad Lutz-triple toe. He earned a level three on two spins, but the footwork was only graded a level two. He placed third going into the free skate with 88.33 points.
The 21-year-old said he was satisfied with his skate, but admitted to being a bit nervous.
“There were some small mistakes, but I didn’t really feel them myself,” he said. “Lately I’ve gotten used to skating last, and I think it’s better for me. You have time to get into the zone after the warm-up, and then you go onto the ice. I try not to think about the additional pressure now, after winning a medal at Worlds, but of course I still feel some pressure. It comes not from anyone else, but mostly from myself. But in general, I try to cope with it, and so far, I’m managing.”
“I really like being and competing in China,” Shaidorov added. “Performing here is, of course, very special. The fans are amazing; they throw panda toys onto the ice, and now I even got some pillows! There were several pillows that were custom-made for me.”
The 2025 Four Continents Champion made several errors in the free skate, underrotating the back end of a triple Lutz-triple Axel and falling on an underrotated quad toe in the second half. The back half of his opening triple Axel-Euler-quad Salchow was also slightly underrotated, but he landed a quad Lutz and quad toe-triple toe in his difficult routine to “Confessa” and “Diva Dance.” All spins and footwork were awarded a level three and he placed third in the free skate and overall (174.34/262.67).
“The last two elements were quite heavy,” Shaidorov noted. “In principle, I am skating the program and the content that I want to do later in the season as well. There were mistakes, but overall, I am very satisfied. I tried not to miss anything, to go till the end, no matter how hard it was. I did it, and however it turned out, there is something to work on.”
The music choice for his free skate this year was his idea.
“I heard this song in Dimash’s performance in China, and I really liked it,” said the skater. “I said that in the future I would definitely skate to it. And then, after the World Championships, I understood that the time had come, and it was time to take this music. It would be the perfect time. Perhaps now, like last year, many people don’t really understand the program. They are asking what’s wrong with it, what’s right with it. Right now, it seems it’s the same story. But overall, I think that during the season I will skate to it better, and the result is going to be the same as last year.”
Shaidorov will compete again at Skate America next month.
Tomoki Hiwatashi
Skating his short program to “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, USA’s Tomoki Hiwatashi landed a quad toe and a triple Lutz-triple toe. While the triple Axel was landed on the quarter, he showed good level-three footwork, placing sixth with 79.07 points.
“I kind of skated into the Axel a little bit,” admitted the two-time U.S. national medalist. “When I was taking off for the Axel, I knew I had to save it, and I think I did what I could out of what I had. So, I think everything else was good today.”
The 25-year-old pointed out that he missed levels on his footwork and spins.
“So, that’s a lot of work to do till the next competition. We’ll just get to it next week,” he said.
The 2019 World Junior champion placed fourth in his free skate with a new personal best of 166.64 points. His routine to “Creep” by Vincint Cannady featured a quad toe-triple toe, quad toe, and two triple Axels. The only mistake came when he put a foot down on a triple Salchow. He slightly underrotate the last jump in a triple Lutz-Euler-triple flip, but showed level-four spins and footwork throughout his expressive routine. With a personal best score of 245.71 points, he moved up to spots to fourth place overall.
Hiwatashi, who was a substitute for his good friend Camden Pulkinen, was thrilled with his performance.
“He texted me ‘Go get it in China,'” said Hiwatashi. “I really felt the energy in me from Camden, and I really think I owe it to him on this competition, definitely.”
The skater, who has been training in Japan, will skate again next week at Skate Canada.
“I don’t have much time,” he noted. “I’m going to go back to Japan for just like a day to recover and get a session with Mie Hamada, whom I haven’t seen this week. I feel like I really need to still keep intact, still keep myself in motion until next week. Then after that, I think I can just take a small break going into nationals.”
Boyang Jin
China’s Boyang Jin placed fifth in the short with 86.62 points. His routine to “Fought & Lost” featured a quad toe, triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toe.
The two-time World bronze medalist was “happy” with his performance.
“I haven’t competed in a while, so my speed was maybe not there at the beginning,” he said. “But overall, I feel like before the competition, I felt grounded and that’s not something I usually feel before the competition. I was focused on myself and the elements and tried not to think about the others.”
The 28-year-old struggled in the free skate, putting a food down on a quad toe and stepping out of a triple Axel and triple flip. He placed seventh (146.19) in the free skate, but managed to hang on to fifth place overall (232.81).
“I’m relatively happy because I didn’t pop or fall on any of the jumps,” he said. “I adjusted the combination jump because I didn’t think the conditions today were good enough. I still need to work on some mistakes for the next competition and improve the program.”
Sota Yamamoto
Sota Yamamoto of Japan gave a nearly flawless short program to “Yesterday” by Michael Bolton which was highlighted by his opening quad toe-triple toe. He then landed a quad Salchow on the quarter, but the triple Axel was solid, and he earned a level four on a spin. The 2022-23 Grand Prix Final silver medalist scored a season’s best of 87.57 for fourth place.
Yamamoto said he has been struggling with a hip injury this season, but today he felt “okay” and that “everything was good.”
However, the five-time ISU Challenger Series medalist struggled in his free skate, falling on a quad toe, popping a Lutz, and underrotating several other jumps. He finished 11th in this segment and ninth overall (211.67).
The skater was very “disappointed and heartbroken” about his performance, citing lack of practice for the error-ridden program. However, he said he wasn’t in “any pain.”
Vladimir Litvintsev of Azerbaijan placed sixth overall (222.64). USA’s Jacob Sanchez had a good showing in his Grand Prix debut at this event for seventh place overall (221.21). Junhwan Cha of South Korea finished eighth (217.53).
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