Cup of China 2023: Yoshida Hana takes women's victory from Japanese teammate Watanabe Rinka after Loena Hendrickx struggles in free skate
Patchy jumping saw the Belgian star slip to third as Yoshida produced a season's best free skate to claim her first senior ISU Grand Prix title, while Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won the ice dance.
Figure Skating
Yoshida Hana led a Japanese one-two at the Cup of China figure skating Grand Prix in Chongqing, People's Republic of China, on Saturday (11 November).
The 18-year-old, after finishing fourth of her senior ISU Grand Prix debut at Skate America, scored 139.32 on her free skate to move up from third overnight to the top of the podium with a total of 203.97.
Teammate Watanabe Rinka was second on 203.22 with overnight leader Loena Hendrickx only third (201.49) after a below-par free skate in which she under-rotated two of her triple jumps.
Third place should be enough for Hendrickx to qualify for next month's Grand Prix Final in Beijing with Yoshida holding an outside chance of making the top six.
Yoshida Hana hits triple Axel, profits from Hendrickx errors
Yoshida showed she is one of the best of a young crop of Japanese skaters by improving considerably on her short program.
Having fallen on her triple Axel attempt on Friday, Yoshida only took a step this time and went on to put together a solid jumping display.
A step out at the end on a double Axel, which went down as an unplanned single toe loop, was the only other clear error in a fine skate to 'Shakuhachi' and 'La Terre Vu Du Ciel' by Armand Amar.
It earned her the best score of the day, 139.32, for a total of 203.97.
Then came Watanabe who was largely clean in her free skate, but her lack of a triple Axel – which she had last season - proved decisive as she scored 138.13 to leave her just three-quarters of a point behind her fellow Japanese.
Hendrickx was last to go with the Skate America winner carrying a lead of over five points from the short program.
While her skate to 'Break My Soul' by Beyonce and Madonna was a crowd-pleaser, the Belgian’s jumping left plenty to be desired.
Her opening triple Lutz-triple toe loop was far from clean, under-rotating the second half of the combination, and there was a single toe loop midway through the routine.
There was also an under-rotated triple flip at the start of what should have been a high-scoring combination as the two-time world medallist only scored 130.84, dropping her down to third place.
Niina Petrokina of Estonia consolidated her fourth place from overnight with Canada’s Madeline Schizas moving up from seventh to fifth.
Republic of Korea’s Kim Yelim also improved two places from the short program to finish in sixth place.
Gilles and Poirier bounce back for ice dance triumph
Earlier, Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took victory in the ice dance after posting the highest score in the free dance.
The Olympians trailed compatriots Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha by just under a point after Friday's rhythm dance, but scored 126.79 in the free dance for a winning total of 207.83.
That made it four consecutive Grand Prix triumphs, and six in total, for the Skate Canada champions who booked their place in the Grand Prix Final.
Lajoie and Lagha were second on 206.02 with Caroline Green and Michael Parsons of the United States rounding out the podium on 189.33.