The 2012 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai on November 2–4.[1] Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final.

2012 Cup of China
Exhibition Gold Medalists in the figure skating competition, Cup of China 2012.
Type:Grand Prix
Date:November 2 – 4
Season:2012–13
Location:Shanghai
Host:Chinese Skating Association
Venue:Shanghai Oriental Sports Center
Champions
Men's singles:
Japan Tatsuki Machida
Ladies' singles:
Japan Mao Asada
Pairs:
China Pang Qing / Tong Jian
Ice dance:
France Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat
Navigation
Previous:
2011 Cup of China
Next:
2013 Cup of China
Previous GP:
2012 Skate Canada International
Next GP:
2012 Cup of Russia

Eligibility

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Skaters who reached the age of 14 by July 1, 2012 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit.

Prior to competing in a Grand Prix event, skaters were required to have earned the following scores (3/5 of the top scores at the 2012 World Championships):[2]

Discipline Minimum
Men 159.66
Ladies 113.43
Pairs 120.90
Ice dancing 109.59

Entries

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The entries were as follows.[3]

Country Men Ladies Pairs Ice dancing
  Canada Kevin Reynolds Amélie Lacoste Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje
  China Guan Jinlin
Song Nan
Wang Yi
Li Zijun
Geng Bingwa
Zhang Ying
Pang Qing / Tong Jian
Peng Cheng / Zhang Hao
Wang Wenting / Zhang Yan
Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun
Yu Xiaoyang / Wang Chen
  Finland Kiira Korpi
  France Brian Joubert Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat
  Italy Charlène Guignard / Marco Fabbri
  Japan Tatsuki Machida
Daisuke Takahashi
Mao Asada
  Russia Sergei Voronov Yulia Lipnitskaya
Sofia Biryukova
Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov
Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov
Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev
Victoria Sinitsina / Ruslan Zhiganshin
  Sweden Joshi Helgesson
  United States Adam Rippon Mirai Nagasu Madison Chock / Evan Bates

Overview

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Carolina Kostner withdrew from the ladies' event due to insufficient fitness.[4] Due to the 2012 China anti-Japanese demonstrations, the Japan Skating Federation said it would withdraw its competitors if the organizers did not provide security guarantees.[5] Japan's pair Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran withdrew in order to undergo surgery.[6] Satisfied with the security situation, the other Japanese skaters traveled to the event.

Although eight spots were available in the pairs event, only six teams competed due to withdrawals before the start of the competition. China's home team of Pang Qing / Tong Jian won the short program, followed by Russia's Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov and Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch.[7][8] In the free skate, Pang / Tong maintained their lead to win gold while Kavaguti / Smirnov took the silver and fellow Russian pair Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov rose from fifth to win the bronze, their first senior Grand Prix medal.[9][10]

In the ice dancing event, World bronze medalists Nathalie Pechalat / Fabian Bourzat of France won the short dance ahead of Canada's Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje and Russia's Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev.[11][12] Pechalat / Bourzat maintained their lead in the free dance and took their third GP gold by over ten points over Bobrova / Soloviev, with Weaver / Poje 0.49 points behind in third.[13][14]

In the ladies' event, World Junior champion Yulia Lipnitskaya of Russia won the short program ahead of two-time World Champion Mao Asada of Japan.[15][16] Asada won the title after placing first in the free skate ahead of Lipnitskaia, whose silver was her first senior Grand Prix medal, while Finland's Kiira Korpi won the bronze.[17][18][19] China's Geng Bingwa withdrew after the short program due to a sprained ankle.[17]

In the men's event, Japan's Daisuke Takahashi won the short program over countryman Tatsuki Machida, with Russia's Sergei Voronov in third.[20][21] Machida upset former World champion Takahashi to win his first senior Grand Prix title. Takahashi settled for silver, with Russia's Sergei Voronov winning the bronze, his first Grand Prix medal since 2010.[22][23] Although ten spots were available in the men's event, the field was reduced to nine before the start of the competition and finished with seven due to withdrawals after the short program. China's Song Nan withdrew after sustaining a concussion in a collision with American Adam Rippon a minute into the final warm up before the free skate.[22][23] Rippon said, "I kind of turned around to go into a jump and I think when Nan Song and I saw each other we both tried to avoid each other, but we went in the same way and we went head first into each other."[22] Song was kept in the hospital overnight for observation. France's Brian Joubert withdrew due to abdominal pain and fever – his coach said he had passed out three times on the flight to China.[22]

Results

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Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Tatsuki Machida   Japan 236.92 2 83.48 1 153.44
2 Daisuke Takahashi   Japan 231.75 1 84.79 2 146.96
3 Sergei Voronov   Russia 217.61 3 73.58 3 144.03
4 Adam Rippon   United States 205.48 4 71.81 4 133.67
5 Kevin Reynolds   Canada 202.07 6 69.87 5 132.20
6 Wang Yi   China 188.27 8 57.25 6 131.02
7 Guan Jinlin   China 171.04 9 55.97 7 115.07
WD Song Nan   China 5 70.86
WD Brian Joubert   France 7 63.27

Ladies

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Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Mao Asada   Japan 181.76 2 62.89 1 118.87
2 Yulia Lipnitskaya   Russia 177.92 1 63.06 2 114.86
3 Kiira Korpi   Finland 169.86 4 59.69 3 110.17
4 Mirai Nagasu   United States 163.46 3 59.76 4 103.70
5 Li Zijun   China 160.06 5 59.21 5 100.85
6 Amélie Lacoste   Canada 135.46 6 57.43 9 78.03
7 Joshi Helgesson   Sweden 134.43 7 49.67 7 84.76
8 Zhang Ying   China 130.65 9 43.38 6 87.27
9 Sofia Biryukova   Russia 127.36 8 44.39 8 82.97
WD Geng Bingwa   China 10 36.53

Pairs

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Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Pang Qing / Tong Jian   China 188.82 1 68.57 1 120.25
2 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov   Russia 183.53 2 63.70 2 119.83
3 Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov   Russia 172.55 5 56.66 3 115.89
4 Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch   Canada 172.36 3 59.12 4 113.24
5 Peng Cheng / Zhang Hao   China 163.87 4 57.89 5 105.98
6 Wang Wenting / Zhang Yan   China 143.52 6 49.79 6 93.73

Ice dancing

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Rank Name Nation Total points SD FD
1 Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat   France 169.73 1 69.15 1 100.58
2 Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev   Russia 159.46 3 64.32 2 95.14
3 Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje   Canada 158.97 2 65.59 3 93.38
4 Madison Chock / Evan Bates   United States 149.54 4 59.26 4 90.28
5 Charlène Guignard / Marco Fabbri   Italy 137.58 5 55.57 6 82.01
6 Victoria Sinitsina / Ruslan Zhiganshin   Russia 137.46 6 55.09 5 82.37
7 Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun   China 121.01 7 46.76 7 74.25
8 Yu Xiaoyang / Wang Chen   China 106.42 8 42.97 8 63.45

References

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  1. ^ "Announcement: 2012 Cup of China". International Skating Union. 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-08-26.
  2. ^ "Competitors for ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2012/2013 Announced". International Skating Union. May 21, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  3. ^ International Skating Union Archived 2011-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Kostner's boyfriend booted from Summer Games". Icenetwork. August 7, 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  5. ^ Himmer, Alastair (September 23, 2012). "Japan considers Cup of China pullout". Reuters.
  6. ^ Rutherford, Lynn (October 26, 2012). "Takahashi, Tran out of Grand Prix, worlds doubtful". Icenetwork.
  7. ^ Flade, Tatjana (November 3, 2012). "Pang and Tong open strong in Shanghai". Golden Skate.
  8. ^ "Pang, Tong knee their way to victory in pairs short". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 2, 2012.
  9. ^ Flade, Tatjana (November 4, 2012). "Pang and Tong win Cup of China; qualify for Grand Prix Final". Golden Skate.
  10. ^ "Pang, Tong win in Shanghai, qualify for GP Final". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 3, 2012.
  11. ^ Flade, Tatjana (November 2, 2012). "Pechalat and Bourzat take strong lead in Shanghai". Golden Skate.
  12. ^ "Stylish Pechalat, Bourzat seize lead in Shanghai". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 2, 2012.
  13. ^ Flade, Tatjana (November 3, 2012). "Pechalat and Bourzat take third Grand Prix title at 2012 Cup of China". Golden Skate.
  14. ^ "Pechalat, Bourzat roll to dance gold at Cup of China". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 3, 2012.
  15. ^ Flade, Tatjana (November 2, 2012). "Lipnitskaia upsets Asada in Ladies short at Cup of China". Golden Skate. Archived from the original on 2014-03-24. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  16. ^ "Grand debut! Lipnitskaia takes Cup of China short". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 2, 2012.
  17. ^ a b Flade, Tatjana (November 4, 2012). "Asada edges out Lipnitskaia for the gold in Shanghai". Golden Skate. Archived from the original on 2012-11-29. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  18. ^ "Asada comes back to claim gold over Lipnitskaia". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 3, 2012. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  19. ^ "Asada wins Cup of China with strong free skate". State Journal. November 3, 2012. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  20. ^ Flade, Tatjana (November 2, 2012). "Takahashi edges out Machida in Men's short". Golden Skate.
  21. ^ "Takahashi battles through short, salvages lead". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 2, 2012.
  22. ^ a b c d Flade, Tatjana (November 4, 2012). "Machida upsets Takahashi at 2012 Cup of China". Golden Skate.
  23. ^ a b "Machida stuns Takahashi in Cup of China triumph". International Skating Union. IceNetwork. November 3, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
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