This week, the Grand Prix Series heads to Chongqing, China for Cup of China, Oct. 24-26. The first edition of Cup of China was held in Beijing in 2003. The event replaced Bofrost Cup on Ice, which had been one of the founding events of the Grand Prix Series. In 2018, the Chinese Skating Association chose not to host Cup of China to prepare its venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics. That year, Finland hosted Grand Prix of Helsinki in Cup of China’s place. The competition returned the following year, and there were restrictions for the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cup of China was cancelled in 2021 due to travel and quarantine restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was replaced with Gran Premio d’Italia in Turin, Italy. The 2022 edition was also cancelled due to China’s ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions. This time, it was replaced by MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield, England. The Cup of China returned in 2023.
Men
2025 World silver medalist and Four Continents Champion Mikhail Shaidorov, of Kazakhstan, will lead the men’s field in Chongqing. Shaidorov started his season by winning Denis Ten Memorial Challenge in front of a home crowd. Shaidorov is the first skater to land a triple Axel-quadruple toe-loop combination in a competition and is the first to perform a triple Axel-Euler-quadruple Salchow in a competition. He also became the first skater from Kazakhstan to win an ISU Championship title in ten years. Last season, as first alternate for the Grand Prix Final, Shaidorov was called up to replace France’s Adam Siao Him Fa. Shaidorov finished the event in fifth place. He won the silver medal at Cup of China last season.
The winner of Cup of China last season was Japan’s Shun Sato. Along with his gold in China, he earned the silver medal at Skate Canada International to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. At the Final, he took home the bronze medal. This season, Sato finished fourth at Lombardia Trophy.
Sato will be joined by teammate Sota Yamamoto, who had fourth place finishes at both of his Grand Prix events last season. This summer, Yamamoto developed a hernia in his lower back from practicing a quadruple flip jump. He did compete at the Kinoshita Group Cup, where he finished in fourth place, but did withdraw from Trialeti Trophy, which took place two weeks ago.
Korea’s Junhwan Cha was the winner of the Kinoshita Group Cup. The 2025 Four Continents silver medalist is looking to make it through both of his Grand Prix events this year. The last two seasons, he has withdrawn from Finlandia Trophy due to an ankle injury that he has been dealing with since the 2023-2024 season. Cha has a total of six bronze medals on the Grand Prix circuit, his most recent was last year at Skate Canada International.
After not competing during the 2023-2024 season, Italy’s Daniel Grassl finished just off the podium at the Grand Prix Final last season, and won silver at NHK Trophy and bronze at Finlandia Trophy. Grassl started the season at Nepela Memorial, where he finished in third place behind teammate Matteo Rizzo.
Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia will make his season debut in China, but who will be his coach in China remains to be seen. Last week, the Skating School of Switzerland announced that Vasiljevs was no longer training in Champéry and had parted ways with longtime coach, Stéphane Lambiel. Last season, Vasiljevs was sixth at the European Championships and 11th at the World Championships. Vasiljevs has competed on the Grand Prix since 2016, but has only won a silver medal at MK John Wilson Trophy in 2022. Last year, he was seventh at Cup of China and fifth at Skate America.
Team USA will be represented by Tomoki Hiwatashi and Jacob Sanchez. Hiwatashi has competed three times so far this season, taking home bronze medals at Kinoshita Group Cup and Trialeti Trophy, and finishing ninth at Cranberry Cup. He was just added to the roster for Cup of China after teammate Camden Pulkinen withdrew due to a back injury. Hiwatashi will also compete next week at Skate Canada International. Sanchez is making his senior Grand Prix debut at Cup of China. The reigning Junior Grand Prix Final Champion finished fifth at Cranberry Cup and sixth at Nepela Memorial. Cup of China is his only Grand Prix event.
China will be represented by Daiwei Dai and Boyang Jin. Dai finished sixth and Jin finished eighth at Cup of China last season.
Event Info: The men’s short program will take place Friday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 7 a.m. (EDT). The free skate is Saturday, Oct. 25 at 6:40 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 6:40 a.m. (EDT).
Women
2025 World Champion Alysa Liu will kick off her 2025-2026 Grand Prix Series in Chongqing. This is her second season on the Grand Prix since returning to competition last fall, and only her third Grand Prix season of her career. She has never medaled on the Grand Prix circuit. So far this season, Liu finished fourth at Lombardia Trophy.
Liu will be joined by her teammate and the reigning Grand Prix Final Champion Amber Glenn. Last season, Glenn had her most successful Grand Prix Series of her career, winning both Cup of China and Grand Prix de France to qualify for the Final. She also took home her second U.S. title and finished fifth, her best placement at the World Championships. This season, she has added the triple Axel to her short program. She won her season debut event, Nebelhorn Trophy.
Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova has put the disappointment of last season’s World Championships behind her and is already off to a good start this Olympic season. She won silver at the Skate to Milano Olympic Qualifying Event to secure her spot at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, as well as gold at Trialeti Trophy. Gubanova is looking for her first Grand Prix medal since 2022.
Team Japan will be represented by Hana Yoshida, Rinka Watanabe and Rino Matsuike. Yoshida has competed in the last two Grand Prix Finals, winning bronze in 2023 and finishing fifth last season. But this season, she has had two eighth place finishes at Kinoshita Group Cup and Nebelhorn Trophy. Watanabe has also competed in a Grand Prix Final, finishing fouth in 2022. This season, Watanabe was fourth in Kinoshita Group Cup and seventh at Trialeti Trophy. Matsuike was sixth at last year’s Grand Prix Final, after winning silver at Skate Canada and Finlandia Trophy. This season, she finished eighth at Lombardia Trophy.
The four-time World Junior silver medalist Jia Shin is kicking off her senior Grand Prix debut with back-to-back events. Last week, she finished seventh at Grand Prix de France and is hoping to improve her skating skills to compete among the strong senior skaters. Shin’s teammate Haein Lee returns to the Grand Prix this season after being suspended last fall. Lee won Denis Ten Memorial and was third at Trialeti Trophy.
A skater to watch for is Italy’s Anna Pezzetta, who is making her Grand Prix debut at Cup of China. Pezzetta finished second behind her teammate, Lara Naki Gutmann, at Nepela Memorial, and finished just off the podium at Trialeti Trophy.
Event Info: The women’s short program will take place Friday, Oct. 24 at 4:20 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 4:25 a.m. (EDT). The free skate is Saturday, Oct. 25 at 4:30 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 4:30 a.m. (EDT).
Pairs
The biggest story of the pairs’ event will be the return of reigning Olympic Champions Weijing Sui and Cong Han. Since they announced their return to competitive skating this spring, only some training clips of the two have surfaced on social media. This will be their first event since the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
How will Sui and Han stack up against the rest of the field in Chongqing? We will have to wait and see.
Italy will have three teams in China. World bronze medalists Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii won Cup of China last season and already have two gold medals this season — Lombardia Trophy and Tayside Trophy. They did qualify for the Final last season and finished in fourth place.
Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini also qualified for the Final last season and finished in sixth place. They earned a spot at the event after winning bronze at both their Grand Prix events — Finlandia Trophy and Grand Prix de France. They have also competed twice already this season, finishing behind Conti and Macii at Lombardia Trophy and finishing in fourth place at Nebelhorn Trophy.
The third Italian team is returning to competition this season after missing last season due to injury. Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise are the 2024 European Champions and earned a silver at NHK Trophy and a bronze at Skate Canada International during the 2023-2024 Grand Prix Series. In their return to competition this season, Beccari and Guarise finished seventh at both of their fall events — Nebelhorn Trophy and Trialeti Trophy.
Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava won the bronze medal at both the Grand Prix Final and the European Championships last season. They also won their second World Junior title and finished in fourth place at the senior World Championships. They already have two medals this season — silver at Kinoshita Group Cup and gold at Trialeti Trophy.
China’s Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang are making their senior Grand Prix debut in China. The 2024-25 Junior Grand Prix Final Champions earned a pairs spot for China for the 2026 Winter Olympics by winning the Skate to Milano Olympic Qualifier.
Germany’s Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel had two fourth place finishes on the Grand Prix last season. They were eighth last month at Nebelhorn Trophy.
Team USA’s Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman have back-to-back Grand Prix events. Last week, they finished fourth in France.
Event Info: The pairs’ short program will take place Friday, Oct. 24 at 8:50 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 8:50 a.m. (EDT). The free skate is Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8:50 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 8:50 a.m. (EDT).
Ice Dance
For a preview of the ice dance event, visit Ice-Dance.com.
Event Info: The rhythm dance kicks off on Friday, Oct. 24 at 2:45 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 2:45 a.m. (EDT) ; the free dance occurs on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2:30 p.m. (China Standard Time) / 2:30 a.m. (EDT).
