Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong made a strong return to pairs figure skating with a bronze at the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China. Shun Sato claimed the men's title, while Amber Glenn defended her women's title. 

CHONGQING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong announced their return to pairs figure skating with a bronze medal at the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China here on Saturday.

Returning to the rink after more than three years, the 2022 Winter Games gold medalists showed clear focus and refined artistry despite downgraded jumps and a few shaky landings from Han.

Their long program to the music from Chinese dance drama A Tapestry of a Legendary Land earned them 130.47 points, 25 points short of their personal best score set in 2019, but was enough for a third-place finish with a total score of 202.92.

"We only rehearsed this program three times in total," said Han, who only decided in June to come out of retirement and partner Sui for a possible 2026 Winter Olympic campaign.

"During the final lift, my endurance reached its limit and my balance shifted. Although I tried to recover, the last transition was incomplete," he added.

Georgia's reigning world junior champions Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava took gold on 217.24, with Italian pair Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii at second on 209.88.

China's young pair Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang, last year's national champions, totaled 195.41 to step one place up from fifth in the short program to just miss a podium finish in their first senior Grand Prix.

Fellow local favorite Jin Boyang, who had represented China at both PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, committed errors in both his quad toe and triple Axel jumps, but managed to stay a distant fifth after Saturday's free skate, trailing the eventual champion by 45 points in total score.

Japan's Shun Sato opened his Olympic season campaign with back-to-back Cup of China crowns, having delivered a mistake-free performance in the evening's free skate to score 183.99 and combine for 278.12.

His closest rival, Daniel Grassl of Italy, had 179.01 and 269.43 in total, beating 2025 world silver medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan to third place.

American duo Amber Glenn and Alysa Liu capped a one-two finish, as the national titleholder Glenn defended the women's title with a total score of 214.78 following a 141.74 free skate, overtaking short program leader and reigning world champion Liu, who was second in free skate on 137.46 to tally 212.07.

Japan's Rinka Watanabe finished third after totaling 198.63, edging Georgia's Anastasiia Gubanova by less than a point.

China's 17-year-old Zhang Ruiyang moved from tenth to seventh following a well-executed free stake, while the country's 2022 Olympian Zhu Yi stumbled in the night and finished a disappointing 11th among as many skaters.

In ice dance, overnight leaders Madison Chock and Evan Bates danced to their eighth Grand Prix title as the three-time and reigning world champions scored 123.81 points to top the free dance and totaled 208.25 for their convincing victory.

The husband-and-wife pair's young teammates Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolsenik took their first career ISU Grand Prix medal with silver, while France's Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud settled for bronze.

China's pairs Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu, Ren Junfei and Xing Jianing, and Xiao Zixi and He Linghao finished at the bottom of the standings among teams that competed, after Americans Caroline Green and Michael Parsons withdrew from the free dance after Parsons suffered an injury in Friday's rhythm dance.

Wang and Liu, both 31, said they felt more relaxed this time since "there was no quota pressure," compared to last month's qualifer in Beijing, where they secured an Olympic berth for China.

"We are satisfied with our performances, but not with the completion of our program. There is still considerable room for improvement and correction," Wang said.

"Before the free dance, Liu told me not to worry. It has been five years since we last competed in the Cup of China. Last year we sat in the stands, and this year we hit the rink. That's already a success."

"It's more about enjoying the competition," Liu echoed.

The Cup of China is the second event of this season's ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series, which moves to Saskatoon, Canada next week.  ■