The 2004 Cup of China, the fourth leg of the International
Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating, opens this
afternoon at Beijing Capital Gymnasium.
Two pairs of home favourites, Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, the pairs
winners of Skate Canada International, and Zhang Dan/Zhang Hao,
winners of Skate America, are looking to win on home soil, starting
with today's short program.
Finishing first with their new routine to the music "The Soong
Sisters" at Skate Canada, Shen and Zhao still hope for perfection
in Beijing.
"Although the new program was approved by most experts, it still
needs further improvement in some details," said Zhao. "We will
make some fine adjustments to meet the needs of the new judging
system better in the Cup of China, our scoring event."
Young teammates, Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao are confident with the
home show as well.
"Although we are still away behind Shen and Zhao, we are making
progress every day," Zhang Hao said. "We will try our best to
perform as well as them in front of the home supporters."
With the withdrawal of Russia's injured Tatiana Totmianina and
Maxim Marinin, the two Chinese pairs will be strong title
contenders.
China's Li Chengjiang, who ranked fifth in the men's singles at
last week's NHK Trophy but got the highest score for the technical
elements in free skating, will challenge for his first Grand Prix
title against German Stefan Lindemann, the bronze medallist of the
2004 World Championships.
The ladies' singles may be a little disappointing to Chinese
figure-skating fans for the withdrawal of American Sasha Cohen.
The runner-up of the 2004 Dortmund World Championships withdrew
again after the registered Skate America for a recurring back
injury. According to her doctors, she can only carry out simple
practice moves and no difficult jumps.
Her absence will leave the title more open for the returning
Russian world champion Irina Slutskaya and Japan's rising star Miki
Ando.
The Cup of China will run until Sunday, with 46 top world figure
skaters from 17 countries and regions.
(China Daily November 11, 2004)