Ladies

Pl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Mao ASADA	JPN	181.76	2	1
2	Julia LIPNITSKAIA	RUS	177.92	1	2
3	Kiira KORPI	FIN	169.86	4	3
4	Mirai NAGASU	USA	163.46	3	4
5	Zijun LI	CHN	160.06	5	5
6	Amelie LACOSTE	CHN	135.46	6	9
7	Joshi HELGESSON	SWE	134.43	7	7
8	Ying ZHANG	CHN	130.65	9	6
9	Sofia BIRYUKOVA	RUS	127.36	8	8
w	Bingwa GENG	CHN		10

Men

Pairs

Dance

(4 November 2012) Shanghai, China.

Mao Asada comes back in Free Skate to win Cup of China seven years after her debut here.

1. Overall 181.76; 2.SP 62.89.(31.83+31.06); 1.FS 118.87(54.53+64.34-1)

Mao Asada returned to Cup of China seven years after her senior grand prix debut in 2005. She said it was incredible when she looked back to what has happened in the past seven years. "I just remember that when I came to Cup of China the first time, it was my first ISU senior event, just like Julia now. I went to Olympic Games, won the World Championships, it was incredible experience for me. I was so happy that I could come back again, I really enjoy the atmosphere here."

Because of the nervous political relationship between Japan and China, the Japan Skating Federation sent the skaters with a bodyguard to make sure of their safeness. "To be honest, I was a little worried about that before I came to China, but when I arrived at the airport, I saw many Chinese fans there waiting for me, they welcome me with flowers and presents. I really appreciate their supporting and enjoy the competition here. I haven’t felt any problem during I’m in Shanghai," Asada said.

It is the first time Asada has shown her Short Program, set to "I got rhythm" and choreographed by Lori Nichol, this season. It was a tap dance number, which Mao had not tried before. The jump elements were double Axel, triple flip - double loop, and triple Loop in the second half; but this time the triple flip was under-rotated and the jump combination only got 4.80 points. But Asada got level 4 on all her spins and the step sequence. 62.89 points made her second place after the Russian rising star Julia Lipnitskaia.

Asada skated to "Swan Lake" for her free skating this season, which is choreographed by her former coach Tatiana Tarasova. She plan to do triple loop, double Axel - triple toe loop, triple flip, triple Lutz for the first half, and triple Salchow, triple loop - double loop, triple loop - double loop - double loop for the second. She only landed three of her seven jumps in the long program. The triple toe loop of the first combination was landed with two feet and was under-rotated, triple flip and the triple flip combination jump were also under rotated, and she doubled a Lutz with the wrong edge. All her spins were perfectly executed, however, and got level 4.

Asada hasn’t planned to do the triple Axel up till now, which is like her brand mark before, nor a triple-triple combination yet. "I haven’t plan to do triple Axel in the program now, but I will try hard to improve my performance and level of the elements in the further training." Asada takes the younger skaters like Julia for her motivation, saying, "I can’t give them any suggestion, because they are also high level skaters, they have their own training style. But I wish they could work hard, I really enjoy competing with them."

2. Overall 177.92; 1.SP 63.06(35.35+27.71); 2.FS 114.86(57.43+57.43)

The World Junior Championship made her senior debut in Cup of China. Although she won all the junior event she attended last year, the senior debut still made she feel nervous. "I made some small mistakes in this competition, my leg is shaking all the time, I have felt the nervous which I had not felt before."

Lipnitskaia landed a nice triple Lutz - triple toe loop at the very beginning of the Short Program, which is a big element earning her 10.90 points. Her triple flip was marked with a wrong edge and got -0.70 on GoE. The three spins all got level 4, and the step sequence was called level 3.

In the Free Skating, Lipnitskaia skated to “Nutcracker.” The triple Lutz of the first triple triple-triple combination was under-rotated. Following that she lost her balance and touch down on double Axel - triple toe loop. Her change foot combination spin only got level 1 and earned but 2.71 points. Although Lipnitskaia got the highest technical score of the nine skaters, all her program component score were around 7, from 7 to 7.25. She placed second after Asada.

"I was happy to win a silver medal on my first senior debut, it was a big motivation for me. I will work hard and looking forward to show two better program in Paris." The Russian rising star started started learning figure skating when she was 4 years old. Her mother took her to the rink and she trained in Yekaterinburg till she was 10, then she moved to Moscow. "I have improved a lot after I got to Moscow," she said.

3. Overall 169.86; 4.SP 59.69(29.26+30.43); 3.FS 110.17(51.03+59.14)

Kiira Korpi rose from 4^th to 3^rd after the long program. The champion from Finland had a tough season last year, and she withdrew from the World Championship two weeks before the event, citing lingering foot and hip injuries. "I was very happy to make the podium here in China, although I made mistakes in my long program, as well as the short. But I am so happy that I could perform my program after a tough season and the injuries.”

Korpi skated to "The Girl with Flaxen Hair’ in her Short Program, which was choreographed by David Wilson. She lost her balance when landing a triple toe loop, then added a double toe loop, getting -1.40 on the GoE. She got two level 4 spins except the lay back spin called level 3, and a level 4 footwork sequence.

Her long program is from ‘"Once Upon a Time in America." She managed to land a triple toe loop - triple toe loop combination, and got 8.90 points for this element. Although she popped a flip and a loop, all three spins were called level 4 as was the leveled step sequence. This earned her more points then Mirai Nagasu from USA, placing her 3^rd . This was her second Cup of China medal after making the podium 2009.

4. Overall 169.86; 3.SP 59.76(31.04+28.72); 4.FS 103.70(45.89+57.81)

This was Mirai Nagasu’s 4^th time came to compete at Cup of China. She has came to China every season she has been in the senior level, but unfortunately, jump problem in the long program again dragged her off the podium, just like in 2009 and 2010. Nagasu placed 3^rd after the short but for the long program, five of her seven jumps were under-rotated, and she was so disappointed after the free skating.

Nagasu’s Short Program was nicely executed except for the second jump of her triple toe loop - triple toe loop combination, which was under rotated. Her new short is set to a big band number choreographed by Susan Austin. "I’m very happy to be back to China again, I really enjoy the atmosphere here, and also the Chinese food. I came from an Asian district in the U.S., so the culture and food makes me feel very comfortable," she said at the press conference after the short.

She skated to "Symphony No. 3 in C minor," Op. 78 by Camille Saint Saens for her long program. She only landed a triple loop - double toe loop combination and a double Axel cleanly in the second half of the program, and got 45.89 on technical scores. Mirai was very disappointed by the performance. "I will check it out with my coach, and do something to improve it. Cup of China is my only grand prix this season, I feel very disappointed with the result," she said.

The 4^th place skater in the Vancouver Olympics made a coach change this season, she left Frank Carroll who she worked with for 3 years, because Carroll’s new rink is too far from her home. She now trains with Wendy Olson.