Much like last week at Grand Prix de France, the top skaters in the men’s event at this week’s 2023 Cup of China are no joke. Among them is a guy who just broke the 300-point mark last week, a two-time World champion, a guy who was sixth at Worlds last season, and a guy who won silver at last year’ Grand Prix Final. A lot can happen this week, and the Grand Prix Final standings could get really shaken up if surprises happen.
Cup of China predictions
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GOLD Adam Siao Him Fa FRA - Can he make it two in a row? Last week was a triumph for Siao, as he became only the sixth person since the 2018-19 season to break the 300-point total score en route to beating Ilia Malinin for the title at home. Anything similar to that could give him that second title and really propel him to one of the favorites for the World title this season. The big test is whether the consistency he’s shown this season can continue.
SILVER Shoma Uno JPN - This is the first time we are seeing the two-time World champion this season, and it’s the latest that he’s made his season debut in recent memory. It’s hard to really know where his skating is right now but it’s also tough to imagine him not being one of the favorites here. That said, this prediction is totally blind to any sort of data to work from.
BRONZE Kazuki Tomono JPN - Fourth at Skate Canada, Tomono was not quite where he had hoped he would be, but he’s shown a promising consistency this season so far that could really bode well for him. He comes in with two of the most well-rounded programs of his career and is intent on pushing his artistic boundaries.
4. Sota Yamamoto JPN - Gold at Skate Canada a couple weeks back, Yamamoto is going to be going up against a very different field of top skaters this week. He will have to figure out his consistency in both programs to get on the podium and give himself a bigger shot at qualifying for the Final again.
5. Mikhail Shaidorov KAZ - It was a very solid Grand Prix debut for Shaidorov two weeks ago in Canada, where he took fifth. He can get himself in that top five again this week, with a lot to like about his jumps and consistency.
6. Gabriele Frangipani ITA - It’s kind of hard to find a more up-and-down skater than Frangipani. He could be brilliant one week and then completely tank the next. This was evident earlier this season, when he won Nepela—beating the likes of Junhwan Cha and Deniss Vasiljevs—and then finished tenth at Budapest Trophy a literal two weeks later.
7. Boyang Jin CHN - Like Siao, this will be back-to-back for Jin. He was eighth last week in France, and it’ll take a bit more consistency for him to get up into the top half. Looked like his free skate was probably suffering from a bit of conditioning last week, so it’s tough to see that get fixed within a week’s time.
8. Lucas Broussard USA - The reigning US junior champion is looking to make a mark in his first year as a senior. He was fourth at Nebelhorn Trophy in September, and two clean skates could give him something of a surprise result. He’s got strong overall packaging, particularly for a first-year senior.
9. Jimmy Ma USA - He hasn’t quite found his groove early this season yet, and the past two competitions were both particularly rough in the short program. For him to make some waves this week, he will need to have made some big strides over the past two months and avoid some of the silly mistakes that he can be prone to make.
10. Sihyeong Lee KOR - Lee is making his international season debut after withdrawing from both of his Challenger events earlier in the season, so he comes in as a bit of a wildcard. He was sixth at Four Continents last season.
11. Daiwei Dai CHN - Dai took gold at Asian Open in August and was third at Chinese Nationals last season. He makes his Grand Prix debut this week.
12. Juwen Xu CHN - A recent replacement for He Zhang, Xu enters the biggest international event of his career at his first fully international Grand Prix.