Chinese Skating News, Pt. 3: A long & winding road to Beijing 2022

[Gris]

Thanks @Gris! Is it possible to get an individual video link for the pairs team, especially since it was only one junior pairs team competing?

Yes, a fan on Weibo has kindly cut some individual videos:

Zhang / Wang 32.87


Shuyu Li 28.92

Kexin Zhang 27.89

Jiabao Tang 21.39

Wantong Zhao 39.41

Chenchen Sha 33.61

Meiran Hou & Qingrun Chen 29.93, 43.89


Zhiyu Wang 41.29 (he did both pairs and singles)

 

[Sylvia]

Have there been any Chinese news articles about Cong Han and what kind of surgery he had? I came across this link (includes video of national team members, including Boyang Jin & Sui/Han (with his hair in a man bun!), visiting an art museum in Beijing on Sept. 8) on Twitter: https://m.weibo.cn/status/4548969068498477

In response to the physical recovery of Han Cong, who is concerned by the ice fans, the head coach [Zhao Hongbo] said, “Han Cong has recovered very well after the operation. The recovery of his ability is about 20-30% now, and he needs to accumulate little by little and slowly develop his ability. Recovery takes a certain amount of time."

ETA: Glad to see the skaters were all wearing masks... how many can you identify? Wenjing Sui was wearing glasses.

 

[Gris]

Have there been any Chinese news articles about Cong Han and what kind of surgery he had?

@raruki posted about Cong's surgery back in June (post #857 of this thread)

-Cong Han had his surgery on his crotch. He got the groin injury last season which affected his solo jump very seriously.

 

[raruki]

According to Weibo,
Xiaoyu Yu is now training with Lei Wang, Whose previous partner was Xuehan Wang.
So happy to see them skating together, technically and artistically, Lei Wang is way better than Hao Zhang.

Sina Visitor System

weibo.com

 

[raruki]

Also, there are rumours saying that Zhong Xie and Yuchen Wang are done, Zhong Xie wanted to retire.

 

[Jeschke]

Wang/Wang are done?
Not that this comes as a surprise, but still.
All the promise

 

[raruki]

Wang/Wang are done?
Not that this is anywhere close to a surprise, but still.
All the promise

Yes, it is done. Xuehan has already handed in her application of retirement due to her injuries

 

[Jeschke]

Such a shame.
Well, keeping my fingers crossed then the long wait will finally have a good end for Yu at least.

 

[feraina]

According to Weibo,
Xiaoyu Yu is now training with Lei Wang, Whose previous partner was Xuehan Wang.
So happy to see them skating together, technically and artistically, Lei Wang is way better than Hao Zhang.

Sina Visitor System

weibo.com

Wow. This is probably the best partner she could’ve hoped for outside the top two teams. He’s experienced and promising. Not a spring chicken but he improved a lot artistically with xuehan wang. I’m happy for her that she gets another opportunity to skate. It seemed like she was doomed. Surprised w/w split though! Thought they had a personal relationship? And he even left the national team when they wanted him to split from X. Wang? So confused.

 

[raruki]

Wow. This is probably the best partner she could’ve hoped for outside the top two teams. He’s experienced and promising. Not a spring chicken but he improved a lot artistically with xuehan wang. I’m happy for her that she gets another opportunity to skate. It seemed like she was doomed. Surprised w/w split though! Thought they had a personal relationship? And he even left the national team when they wanted him to split from X. Wang? So confused.

That will be a very long story. Actually, they didn't have a personal relationship and both of them have their own partner separately. Many skating fans might think they would have had an affair because of What Lei Wang did for her in Sanya in 2018.
After the Olympic, Shen/Zhao wanted to regroup some of the pair teams and hold a fitness test to select the best athletes to form strong new teams. Lei Wang got the first place in the fitness test, and Shen/Zhao wanted him to pair up with another girl. He refused and left the national team for Xuehan Wang, and went back to Beijing Provincial team.
I think most of the skating fans were touched by the acts of Lei Wang. But what I have known is that the Xuehan's family had helped Lei Wang's family financially many times, and what Lei Wang did was simply an act of returning the favours to Xuehan's family.

 

[feraina]

That will be a very long story. Actually, they didn't have a personal relationship and both of them have their own partner separately. Many skating fans might think they would have had an affair because of What Lei Wang did for her in Sanya in 2018.
After the Olympic, Shen/Zhao wanted to regroup some of the pair teams and hold a fitness test to select the best athletes to form strong new teams. Lei Wang got the first place in the fitness test, and Shen/Zhao wanted him to pair up with another girl. He refused and left the national team for Xuehan Wang, and went back to Beijing Provincial team.
I think most of the skating fans were touched by the acts of Lei Wang. But what I have known is that the Xuehan's family had helped Lei Wang's family financially many times, and what Lei Wang did was simply an act of returning the favours to Xuehan's family.

Interesting. Well that’s still noble of him. Other guys have left their partners despite having received financial help from the girls’ family. But he’s already 32. Gosh. Even older than I remembered. I hope he’s staying healthy. At least I haven’t heard of any nagging injuries wrt him.

 

[Gris]

- Today the Chinese federation made an announcement saying that the participants would be limited to 1 group each discipline with those whose 19-20 SBs are in top 75 automatically qualified. Others who wish to take part (and those who wish to be listed as subs) need to send a video of their FS/FD for selection before Oct. 9.

The fact that the announcement is made by CFSA makes me believe that CoC is very likely to be Chinese skaters only.

Chinese skaters with top 75 season best scores in 19-20:

Men: Boyang Jin, Han Yan, He Zhang, Yudong Chen
Ladies: Hongyi Chen
Pairs: Sui / Han, Peng / Jin, Tang / Yang, Wang / Huang (allegedly split), Wang / Jia
Dance: Wang / Liu, Chen / Sun, Ning / Wang, Ren / Karpushov (allegedly split?), Guo / Zhao

ETA: I misremembered and there hasn't been anything indicating R/K have split.

 

[Gris]

So the entries for GP series are out with the current line up of CoC pretty much as expected in the post above.

Team China:

SA: Ashley Lin

SCI: Beverly Zhu

CoC:

Men: Yudong Chen, Boyang Jin, Han Yan, He Zhang & 2 TBAs
Ladies: Hongyi Chen & 5 TBAs
Pairs: Peng / Jin, Sui / Han, Tang / Yang, Wang / Huang
Dance: Chen / Sun, Guo / Zhao, Ning / Wang, Wang / Liu & 1 TBA

Nice to see Ashley officially representing China and Yuchen & Yihang still skating!

 

[Gris]

Xiangyi An performed a program to Song of the Fisherman.

I think the music fits her nicely - maybe she can adapt it into a SP.

 

[Gris]

TBAs at CoC have been updated:

As updated in the grids, Cup of China's TBAs went to:

Ladies: Minzhi JIN, Angel LI, Siyang ZHANG, Lu ZHENG

Men: Zhiming PENG, Juwen XU

Dance: Yufei LIN / Zijian GAO

(Links are to their ISU bios)

CoC's official Weibo account posted several videos of Chinese skaters greeting fans.

Sui / Han: They have been training in a closed setting and miss competitions with audiences. Last year's CoC is a wonderful memory. He had surgery during the off season, hope to do their best in the upcoming competitions.

Peng / Jin: She says they used to be under lots of pressure in regular seasons but after nine months of no competition this year, they cherish and look forward to this opportunity. Recently they have been training in Beijing and hope to show their best. He says that the support from the audience in Chongqing impressed him most and hopes to perform great programs in return.

Hongyi Chen: She remembers the beautiful arrangement in the arena last year and hopes to bring beauty to viewers too.

Wang / Liu: They have been training in Beijing with their coaches instructing virtually from Canada daily, which is something new and a challenge to them. Although this year there are no foreign teams at CoC, their biggest goal is still to better themselves.

Chen / Sun: They set their PB at last year's CoC. He says they miss competitions and look forward to meeting fans in Chongqing again with better programs.

Boyang Jin: Chongqing is a lucky place for him since he won his first senior Grand Prix champion here last year and he likes Chongqing's rap bands. He looks forward to competing in Chongqing with two new programs.

 

[Gris]

Some of the CoC participants' ISU bios have been updated with their new program music:

Yudong CHEN
SP: Canned Heat by Jamiroquai
FS: Du Plomb Dans La Cervelle (from "The Big Sleep") by Max Steiner
St Eustache (from "Micmacs a tire-larigot") by Raphael Beau
Droit De Cite (from "Micmacs a tire-larigot") by Raphael Beau
Ça déroule (from "Micmacs a tire-larigot") by Raphael Beau
Choreographer: Elvin Wong

Zhiming PENG
SP: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana performed by David Garrett
FS: First, I Must Apologize; Zion; Furious Angels; Main Title / Trinity vs. Car; all from 'The Matrix Reloaded' soundtrack
Choreographer: Elvin Wong

He ZHANG
SP: La vie en rose by Louis Armstrong
FS: Skin by Daniel Bryer, Jamie Scott, Johnny Coffer, Mike Needle and Rory Graham performed by Rag’n’Bone Man; Another Love by Tom Odell
Choreographer: Benoit Richaud

Siyang ZHANG
SP: Disney Princess Medley
FS: River Flows in You by Yiruma; Every Drop of Rain feat. Li Yijun performed by David Garrett
Choreographer: Elvin Wong

Lu ZHENG
SP: C’etait salement romantique by Coeur De Pirate
FS: Paquita Variation by John Lanchbery
Choreographer: Elvin Wong

Yuzhu GUO / Pengkun ZHAO
RD:
Quickstep: Sing Sing Sing by Louis Prima performed by Benny Goodman (from "Swing Kids")
Foxtrot: Bei mir bist du schoen by Sholom Secunda performed by Ella Fitzgerald (from "Swing Kids")
FD: One Thousand Years by Christina Perri; Dance For Me Wallis (from "W.E." soundtrack) by Abel Korzeniowski
Choreographer: Pascal Denis

Yufei LIN / Zijian GAO
RD: The Mask; A Chorus Line
FD: The Twilight Saga; A Thousand Years; Arms
Choreographer: Igor Shpilband, Pasquale Camerlengo (RD), Anjelika Krylova (FD)

Wanqi NING / Chao WANG
RD:
Foxtrot: A Spoon Full of Sugar (from "Mary Poppins" soundtrack)
Quickstep: A Spoon Full of Sugar (from "Mary Poppins" soundtrack)
Waltz: Chim Chim Cher-ee (from "Mary Poppins" soundtrack)
Polka: Supercalifraglisticexpialidocious (from "Mary Poppins" soundtrack)
FD:
Ouverture (from "Mozart L' Opera Rock") by Mikelangelo Loconte
Penser I’impossible (from "Mozart L' Opera Rock") by Mikelangelo Loconte
Je dors sur des roses (from "Mozart L' Opera Rock") by Mikelangelo Loconte
Choreographer: Pascal Denis

 

[Marco]

Who is Elvin Wong?

I think Shan Lin made a great case at Skate America why she should be considered for the Olympics next season (if there is goign to be one...)

I don't think others like Zhu Yi had been quite convincing.

 

[Gris]

Who is Elvin Wong?

Elvin Wong is HUANG Feng, one of the two judges who infamously got suspended by the ISU due to his scoring at 2018 Olympics pairs event. He has served his 1-year suspension and appears on the ISU officials list this year. He is also a choreographer and coach at the national team and choreographs a lot for Chinese skaters.

 

[Marco]

Thanks. I think it speaks volumes on who they support just by looking at whether they have foreign or local choreographers. Those who have programs by Elvin Wong likely have a lot to prove before they can go to Lori or Benoit.

 

[clairecloutier]

Elvin Wong is HUANG Feng, one of the two judges who infamously got suspended by the ISU due to his scoring at 2018 Olympics pairs event. He has served his 1-year suspension and appears on the ISU officials list this year. He is also a choreographer and coach at the national team and choreographs a lot for Chinese skaters.

Why does he use 2 different names?? ETA: Is it just a spelling thing (“Huang” is pronounced like “Wong”?)

 

[Gris]

Why does he use 2 different names?? ETA: Is it just a spelling thing (“Huang” is pronounced like “Wong”?)

'Huang' (Mandarin) and 'Wong' (Cantonese) are different romanizations of the same Chinese surname '黄' (or '黃'). Elvin is his English name as you can see on his Instagram. I don't know why he uses both spellings though.

 

[clairecloutier]

Thanks @Gris.

 

[Sylvia]

He is also a choreographer and coach at the national team and choreographs a lot for Chinese skaters.

Interesting that China allows judges (ISU, no less) to coach and choreograph for skaters. USFS allows active coaches to be on technical panels but they cannot be judges at the same time.

 

[Sylvia]

I think Shan Lin made a great case at Skate America why she should be considered for the Olympics next season

Shan, also known as Ashley, Lin had previous senior international experience for the USA with 2 Challenger Series competitions in the fall of 2018 ( http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00101153.htm ) before she switched to China. Her scores at Skate America (59.29 in SP, 122.82 in FS, 182.11 total) were very close to her ISU personal bests from 2018 Nebelhorn (59.45 SP, 121.76 FS, 181.21 total).

The Chinese lady with the most international experience who is listed for Cup of China (the 5 are: http://www.isuresults.com/events/gpchn2020_Ladies.htm ) is Hongyi Chen ( http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00102558.htm ) and her ISU PB scores currently are:
175.77 (ISU Rostelecom Cup 2019)
58.53 (ISU World Championships 2019)
118.60 (ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2019)

Yi (Beverly) ZHU has only been training full-time with Orser's group since earlier this year (her ISU PBs of 55.53 / 99.88 / 155.41 were all set at 2020 4CC: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00107213.htm ) and it'll be interesting to see if she can continue progressing to challenge by next season.

 

[Gris]

Speaking of Shan, CoC's official account on Weibo posted a clip of her greeting fans and other Team China members in Chinese (with the help of her mother).

'I'm Lin Shan, ladies' singles skater of Chinese national figure skating team. Very honored to represent China for the first time in senior Grand Prix at SkAm. Although it wasn't my best, I'm satisfied with my first international competition this season. I still have a lot to improve, especially in the jumps. I'm now training in the US and will keep going. We do lots of ballet, stroking, off ice training and many activities on ice. I practice triple axel every day but it's not consistent yet. This competition is a good opportunity for me to learn. Because of the p*ndemic I couldn't return to China to take part in CoC but I'm following it closely. I wish us Team China good luck and everyone to show their best. Hopefully the p*ndemic can be over soon and I look forward to meeting you at next CoC. Come on Team China! Good luck, love you guys! '

 

[Marco]

It was always going to be Beverly, Ashley and Hongyi for that ladies spot in BJ Olympics.

China recruiting Beverly and Ashley a few years ago seems to have mixed results with Beverly not quite performing (yet) and Ashley skating solidly but not significantly better than Hongyi (yet).

Another dark horse is Christy Yi Leung. She has been representing HK all along but hasn't competed in some time. I wonder if it was injuries or if she was (willingly or otherwise) keeping her options open. I would imagine it wouldn't be so hard to grant her a PRC passport in time.

 

[Gris]

微博

随时随地发现新鲜事！微博带你欣赏世界上每一个精彩瞬间，了解每一个幕后故事。分享你想表达的，让全世界都能听到你的心声！

weibointl.api.weibo.com

Sui / Han have withdrawn from CoC to focus on his recovery. However, they will still go to Chongqing to train with their teammates. Cong said that their initial plan had been to have 4CC 2021 as their first competition after surgery but rushed a bit to make it to CoC since it's in China. Yet eventually they decided to take it easy and aim at long term goals.

As for programs, Peng / Jin have one new while Boyang has two. Hongyi worked with Lori Nichol for the first time. Chen / Sun have a new RD, Wang / Liu made some changes to their FD. Sui / Han will keep one program from last season and probably will bring back one from seasons before. They also made some changes to their programs with Nichol online.

ETA: Tang / Yang have also withdrawn from CoC. (They were not mentioned in the Chinese article I linked above)

Daizifei ZHU / Yuhang LIU have been added.

 

[binbinwinwin]

微博

随时随地发现新鲜事！微博带你欣赏世界上每一个精彩瞬间，了解每一个幕后故事。分享你想表达的，让全世界都能听到你的心声！

weibointl.api.weibo.com

To add on, after consulting with local public health organizations, Cup of China will be held without an audience because it is being held in November and there are higher occurrences of respiratory diseases in the winter. This is to protect the athletes and organizers.

 

[Gris]

Some of the CoC participants' ISU bios have been updated with their new program music:

More have been updated:

Boyang JIN
SP: Trio 1 in D by Kirill Richter; Mechanisms by Kirill Richter
FS: House of the Rising Sun performed by The House on Cliff
Choreographer: Shae-Lynn Bourne (SP), Lori Nichol (FS)

Han YAN
SP: A Thousand Years by Christina Perri and David Hodges performed by Boyce Avenue
FS: Mia & Sebastian’s Theme (from “La La Land” soundtrack) by Justin Hurwitz; City of Stars & Audition Medley (from “La La Land”) by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Noble Paul performed by John Legend
Choreographer: Lori Nichol (SP), Yuka Sato (FS)
(Both programs are from last season)

Hongyi CHEN
SP: Love Theme (from "Cinema Paradiso" soundtrack) by Ennio Morricone
FS: I Have the Strength to Fly by Xiaoduo Cheng*
Choreographer: Lori Nichol

Cheng PENG / Yang JIN
SP: Somewhere in Time (soundtrack) by John Barry
FS:
Travel to Edinburgh (from "Cloud Atlas" soundtrack) by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
Cloud Atlas Sextet (from “Cloud Atlas”, Piano Version) by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
Cloud Atlas End Title (from "Cloud Atlas" soundtrack) by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
Choreographer: Marie-France Dubreuil (SP) , Lori Nichol (FS)
(FS is from last season)

Daizifei ZHU / Yuhang LIU
SP: Never Tear Us Apart performed by Bishop Briggs
FS: Suite from Mulan by Jerry Goldsmith
Choreographer: Jinlin Guan, Tianci Zhang

ETA: I believe this is Hongyi's FS music and there's a typo in the artist's surname (should be Chen rather than Cheng).

I Have the Strength to Fly

Provided to YouTube by CDBaby I Have the Strength to Fly · Chen Xiao Duo Terracotta Warriors ℗ 2004 Sight, Sound & Action LTD. Released on: 2004-01-01 Auto-g...

www.youtube.com

 

[Gris]

More have been updated:

And more:

Hong CHEN / Zhuoming SUN
RD: Quickstep: The Greatest Showman (soundtrack) performed by Keala Settle
FD: I Will Wait for You performed by Mario Frangoulis
Choreographer: Marie France Dubreuil (RD), Romain Haguenauer (FD)

Shiyue WANG / Xinyu LIU
RD:
Quickstep: The Look-A-Like Contest by Christopher Curtis
Waltz: Life Can Be Like the Movies by Christopher Curtis
Quickstep: Titine (from "Modern Times") by Leo Daniderff
Quickstep: The Look-A-Like Contest by Christopher Curtis
FD:
Nina's Dream (from "Black Swan" soundtrack) by Clint Mansell based on Swan Lake by P. I. Tchaikovski
Swan Lake Act I 5, Pas de deux II Andante Allegro by P. I. Tchaikovski
Perfection (from "Black Swan" soundtrack) by Clint Mansell based on Swan Lake by P. I. Tchaikovski
A Swan Is Born (from "Black Swan" soundtrack) by Clint Mansell based on Swan Lake by P. I. Tchaikovski
Choreographer: Marie-France Dubreuil (RD), Romain Haguenauer (FD)
(Both programs are from last season - according to a previous article FD has been modified)

Among CoC skaters, Juwen Xu, Minzhi Jin and Angel Li's music selections are unknown and they don't have ISU bios yet.