As if it weren’t enough that two of the women with the top five scores this season are competing at Cup of China this week, we will also have other Grand Prix medalists and Challenger series champions in the event looking to both get on the podium and get to the Grand Prix Final. There is so much potential to the matchups this week—if we’re lucky, we will witness an event that could be worth of a season-ending championships event.
Cup of China predictions
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Grand Prix Final: Mapping out the scenarios
GOLD Mone Chiba JPN - Second behind Kaori Sakamoto at NHK Trophy, Chiba is showing stronger skating earlier in the season than we are used to from her. She usually hits her stride by the time Japan Nationals comes around, so the progress here is promising. It will absolutely be a fight for her this week as one of the favorites for gold. With that silver at NHK Trophy, she will be looking for at least second here to guarantee her spot in the Final.
SILVER Amber Glenn USA - If she puts it all together, Glenn has the potential to win everything that she enters. She’s the only senior woman this season with a consistent triple axel, and she’s got the power and basics to rival the best of the best. This season so far has been something of a breakthrough; she has been putting down better free skates than last season, and she won the first Grand Prix event of her career in France. Another win this week will be epic for her confidence; a spot on the podium will guarantee her place in the Final.
BRONZE Chaeyeon Kim KOR - The World bronze medalist has been very consistent so far this season, with the exception of her last performance, her free skate at Grand Prix de France, where she made mistakes in the second half of the program and dropped off the podium. She will want to bounce back from that this week—her chances at the Final are slim given her fourth-place finish in Angers, but crazier things have happened this season.
4. Rion Sumiyoshi JPN - Bronze in Angers two weeks ago, Sumiyoshi has been skating well this season so far, showcasing the ease and flow that is so underrated about her skating. She doesn’t need that quad toe to get onto the podium, but it will be important for her to hit all the jumps that are very much within her control.
5. Rinka Watanabe JPN - After a really iffy start to her season both domestically and at Lombardia Trophy, it looked as if Watanabe may have been searching for her consistency and confidence. But Skate Canada was a complete turnaround, and she grabbed silver there with her two best skates all season long. Like Chiba, she will be looking to be on the podium—gold or silver gets her to the Final, but anything else makes that road a lot tougher.
6. Kimmy Repond SUI - Fourth at Skate Canada, she finished just a fraction of a point off the podium there, and it felt like good progress for her as she continues to come back from injury. She is looking for a return to form, especially after a fifth-place finish at Worlds last season.
7. Anastasiia Gubanova GEO - The Challengers series was very good for Gubanova. She hit 190+ total scores in both events and won Denis Ten Memorial. But it all came back down for her at Grand Prix de France, where she was just out of sorts in both programs. She will want to be sharper here.
8. Madeline Schizas CAN - Her fifth-place finish at Skate Canada featured two of the best skates of her career, and she has shown more consistency this season than she has been the past few years. Her short programs have been very good during this fall, her free skate will be the bigger challenge.
9. Minchae Kim KOR - Kim was tenth at Skate America in her debut on the Grand Prix series. She hit a strong short program there and will need to do that and more to get into the top eight this week.
10. Xiangyi An CHN - In September, An had one of the best competitions of her career at Asian Trophy, going near clean in both programs there for the win. It looked like she potentially had turned a leaf early this season. She’s got potential here, but will need to be more consistent than she was at Shanghai Trophy, where she was fifth.
11. Yi Zhu CHN - Tenth at Denis Ten Memorial last month, Zhu returns to the Grand Prix again this year. She was tenth at this event last year.
12. Hongyi Chen CHN - Eighth here last year, Chen has been struggling with fully rotating her jumps for a few seasons. She was sixth at Shanghai Trophy in October.