It’s no secret that Wenjing Sui/Cong Han have greatly slowed down their pace of competitions over the past few seasons, mostly as a result of injury and surgery, and recovery from said injury and surgery. They make their season debut this week at Cup of China this week as the heavy favorites for the title.
Cup of China predictions
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GOLD Wenjing Sui/Cong Han CHN - It’s really amazing to think that Sui/Han have only won three Grand Prix titles in their entire career. Looking back at what they’ve done in this sport, you would think that number would be two or three times more than what it is. But it’s theirs to lose - we are all just looking forward to seeing that free skate from last season again.
SILVER Cheng Peng/Yang Jin CHN - They notched their first career Grand Prix win three weeks ago at Skate America, but it was, by no means, the most satisfying performance for them. With a Grand Prix Final berth plenty within reach, this week will be about getting their consistency down. They talked about Peng’s feet bothering her at Skate America, so it will be good for them to have a bit of a competition break after this for a month, provided that they can stay on the podium and make it to Torino next month.
BRONZE Liubov Ilyushechkina/Charlie Bilodeau CAN - After a solid fifth place finish at Skate Canada, the new Canadian pair comes into Cup of China very much with the podium in mind, especially in this field, where they will prove to be very competitive. Both of them have earned Grand Prix medals before with their previous partners, so this will not be a new experience for them. But for them to be on their podium in their second Grand Prix together will bode well for their chances at Canadian Nationals later this season.
4. Alisa Efimova/Alexander Korovin RUS - They started their season with two very different results - a seventh at Nebelhorn Trophy and then a silver at Finlandia just days later, in fields that weren’t all that different from each other. They will be looking for a second career Grand Prix medal this week.
5. Tae Ok Ryom/Ju Sik Kim PRK - In their second season on the Grand Prix, Ryom/Kim will be hoping to improve on their season last year, where they were solid but didn’t show particular improvements since the Olympic season.
6. Tarah Kayne/Danny O’Shea USA - The 2016 US champions were fourth in their season debut at US Classic almost two months ago. They very much have the potential to be in podium contention here in China, but they will need to be more confident and consistent with their elements.
7. Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise ITA - Just coming off Della Monica’s injury in the off-season, they have only been back training for a few weeks, so it will be tough for them to expect too much out of this competition. This will be a rebuilding few months for them as they look toward the second half of the season.
8. Feiyao Tang/Yongchao Yang CHN - Seventh at Skate Canada, Tang/Yang will be making their second career appearance on the Grand Prix this week.