CHONGQING, China – After switching again to her outdated brief program, world champion Alysa Liu of america took the lead in her first determine skating Grand Prix of the season at the Cup of China on Friday.
Liu scored 74.61 factors with a clear skate to steer Japan’s Rinka Watanabe by 0.6 factors forward of Saturday’s free skate. U.S. champion Amber Glenn is third on 73.04 after placing a hand down on the touchdown of her triple flip-triple toeloop mixture.
It was Liu’s first aggressive skate since she switched again to her brief program from final season, amid an investigation involving one of the artists who carried out the music for this system she had been growing for 2025-26.
Shun Sato is on target to win the lads’s Cup of China gold for the second yr working after touchdown a quadruple lutz and a quad toe loop-triple toe loop mixture on his technique to scoring 94.13. Italy’s Daniel Grassl was second on 90.42 and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov third on 88.33.
Making a long-awaited comeback after greater than three years, Olympic pairs champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong positioned third within the pairs brief program after Sui fell on the opening soar.
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia led the best way on 77.77, with Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii on 73.41. Sui and Han scored 72.45.
In ice dance, three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of america lead after Friday’s rhythm dance with a rating of 84.44.
In second place are U.S. skaters Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik on 80.43, with France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud third on 77.62.
All 4 disciplines at the Cup of China end Saturday.
The Grand Prix de France is the primary of six common season Grand Prix occasions constructing to a closing in December. It is a key check for skaters eyeing medals at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
