Cup of China 2023: Loena Hendrickx leads women after short program despite popped Axel
An error-strewn women's short program sees favourite Hendricks with a clear five-point lead despite the Belgian also performing an invalid element.
Figure Skating
Loena Hendrickx of Belgium leads the women at the Cup of China figure skating Grand Prix in Chongqing, People's Republic of China, on Friday (10 November) after errors throughout the field.
The pre-event favourite, skating last in Friday's short program, was not immune to the same fate that befell each of the 10 athletes who performed before her, with the 24-year-old popping her double Axel down to an invalid single and losing crucial points.
Belgium's Hendrickx also saw the landing to her triple toe loop marked a quarter under-rotated.
However, her 70.65 – more than five points off her short program from her previous outing at Skate America – was still enough to lead by more than five and a half points. The Belgian's artistry and performance helped patch the gaps in her technical score, being the only woman of the 11 to register a nine in any of the program components (9.07 for presentation).
Watanabe Rinka of Japan sits second on 65.09 points, having herself seen both jumps of a triple loop–triple toe combination scored for quarter under-rotations. Her fellow Japanese Yoshida Hana fell on an under-rotated triple Axel attempt – the only attempted triple Axel from any of the skaters – and is third on 64.65.
Other event favourites such as Kim Yelim of the Republic of Korea, Ekaterina Kurakova of Poland, and Madeleine Schizas of Canada will each find themselves skating in the first half of the free skate after disappointing errors – Kim seeing a triple Lutz downgraded and landing it on two feet, Kurakova turning out of a triple loop and performing her triple flip with an unclear edge, and Schizas dropping points on a level one spin.
Earlier, there was a surprise in the ice dance rhythm dance as Canadian favourites Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were dropped into second place by an error on Gilles's twizzles.
That element earned them a negative grade of execution score from the judges and left their total on 81.04, behind fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha's 82.02. The USA's Caroline Green / Michael Parsons sit third on 76.07.