HARBIN — Figure skating Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong claimed the pairs title at the National Figure Skating Championships right here on Saturday, whereas two-time Olympians Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu took the ice dance crown.
Sui and Han led each the quick program and free skate, ending with a complete of 237.57 factors to safe the victory. It was their second competitors since returning to the ice greater than three years after their Olympic triumph.
On the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China in October, Sui and Han completed third of their comeback debut, rating first amongst all Chinese language pairs.
READ MORE: Gearing up for Italian job
Guo Rui/Zhang Yiwen and Zhang Jiaxuan/Huang Yihang received silver and bronze, respectively.
The Beijing Winter Olympic gold medalists Sui/Han scored 151.60 factors within the free skate to music from the Chinese language dance drama “A Tapestry of a Legendary Land.” Regardless of just a few early errors, the pair rapidly settled into their efficiency and completed first within the phase.
“Though our efficiency wasn’t very clean at this time, that really offers us extra room to enhance,” Sui mentioned. “It is colder right here, and we nonetheless must make additional changes in varied elements of our adaptation. I believe all of that is beneficial expertise.”
ALSO READ: Chinese figure skaters beat the pressure to claim full Olympic quota
“We might not get well as rapidly as we did once we have been youthful,” Han mentioned. “That is why we’d like these competitions to rediscover among the expertise we had earlier than progressively.”
Han determined in June to return out of retirement and reunite with Sui in pursuit of a potential 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics marketing campaign.
“We now have now secured the quota place for Milan, and I hope we are able to step onto the ice in good well being,” Sui mentioned. “Within the coming weeks, we’ll proceed to refine the main points of our efficiency and attempt to do higher.”
Earlier within the day, the ice dance veteran duo Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu scored 120.65 factors to high the free dance and completed with a complete of 202.06 for a convincing victory.
Ren Junfei/Xing Jianing and Xiao Zixi/He Linghao took silver and bronze, respectively.
“In contrast with the China Cup, we have made progress,” Liu mentioned. “Our actions and transitions are extra fluid, and our spacing and velocity have improved.”
On the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China earlier this season, Wang and Liu have been the highest Chinese language finishers, putting seventh total.
The National Championships are one of many two key occasions used to find out China’s figure skating entries for the upcoming Winter Olympics. In line with the choice rules issued by the Winter Sports activities Administration Middle, Olympic choices are primarily based on mixed outcomes from the 2025-2026 ISU Grand Prix Cup of China and the National Championships.
ALSO READ: Beijing Olympic figure skating champions Sui, Han set for return next season
China has already secured one quota place in every of the 4 figure skating disciplines: males’s singles, ladies’s singles, pairs and ice dance.
“I believe collaborating within the Winter Olympics is each athlete’s dream,” Wang Shiyue mentioned. “If we are able to signify our nation for a 3rd time, it will be a fantastic honor. We’ll give our all and intention to ship our greatest efficiency on the Olympic stage.”
Within the ladies’s quick program, 14-year-old Jin Shuxian positioned first with 69.08 factors, whereas Zhang Ruiyang, who secured an Olympic berth for China at the ISU Figure Skating Olympic qualifier, completed second with 68.86. 2022 Beijing Winter Olympian Zhu Yi was third on 67.49.
The competitors continues with the boys’s and ladies’s free skate on Sunday.
