Cup of China 2023: Adam Siao Him Fa takes second title in a week as early jumping issues cost Uno Shoma victory
Uno struggled with his opening quad jumps as Adam Siao Him Fa produced a personal best free skate to take the title. Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps made it two wins out of two in pairs.
Adam Siao Him Fa took a surprise victory in the Cup of China on Saturday (11 November) after overnight leader Uno Shoma failed to fire in his free skate.
Days after retaining his Grand Prix de France title on home ice in Angers, Siao Him Fa posted a new personal best free skate score of 207.17 to set a target of 298.38 in Chongqing, People's Republic of China.
Uno led by 14 points after the short program, but the two-time reigning figure skating world champion fell on his opening quad loop and then doubled what should have been a quad flip.
And while his jumping was on point from there on, the Japanese could only score 174.73 for a total of 279.98 and second place on his seasonal debut.
Despite that disappointment, he was all smiles with Stephane Lambiel in the 'kiss and cry' with the Swiss coach having earlier told Olympics.com that this season would see him "wrap up a chapter of his career".
Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov was third with a personal best of 264.46. This result saw him make the podium at an ISU Grand Prix competition for the first time.
Adam Siao Him Fa qualifies for Grand Prix Final in style
Of the earlier skaters, Skate Canada winner Yamamoto Sota had a much better day in Chongqing.
Having been down in eighth place after Friday's short program, the Japanese had a season's best 170.10 in the free skate to move up to sixth overall.
Home favourite Jin Boyang made a poor start as he under-rotated and fell on his opening quad Lutz. Further jumping errors saw him slip from fourth overnight to seventh place.
After his season's best in the short program, Gabriele Frangipani had a personal best in the free skate for a career-best total of 251.59 and fifth place.
Tomono Kazuki moved above the Italian into fourth thanks to a fine free skate that was just shy of his season's best.
Shaidorov, third after the short program, showed he is a man to watch with the 19-year-old landing three quad jumps and two triple Axels in his skate to Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana'.
His score of 174.52 was some 10 points better than his previous free skate best and saw him improve his career-best total by almost 23 points.
Then came the big two with Siao Him Fa excelling in his peformance to a Max Richter medley.
With just a couple of minor errors, the 22-year-old Frenchman landed four quads and two triple Axels to set an imposing target.
Uno's chances of catching him disappeared within the first minute of his free skate, but the Japanese fought back well to hit two triple Axels and two quad toe loops in the second half of his routine.
He will compete on home ice in the NHK Trophy in Osaka in two weeks' time where a top-two finish would almost certainly see him join Siao Him Fa in next month's Grand Prix Final in Beijing.
The fifth round of the 2023/24 Grand Prix series is the Grand Prix of Espoo in Espoo, Finland starting on Friday, 17 November.
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps maintain perfect record
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps backed up their win in Skate Canada with a victory in the pairs event in Chongqing.
Leading by four points overnight, the Canadian duo failed to match their free skate performance to the 'Interview With a Vampire' soundtrack from Vancouver last month but 131.09 was enough for a winning total of 201.48.
That means 40-year-old Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps have qualified for their second consecutive Grand Prix Final where they will bid to improve on their fourth from last year.
The podium spots remained unchanged from the short program with Rebecca Ghilardini and Filippo Ambrosini (191.00) in second, and home hopes Peng Cheng and Wang Lei (178.06) in third.
Germany's Skate America victors Annika Hoche and Robert Kunkel were fourth and face a nervous wait to see if they make the Grand Prix Final.