Jin Boyang tops short program at Cup of China

Chinese teenager Jin Boyang ranked first in short program at Cup of China Grand Prix figure skating event here on Friday.

Jin Boyang became center of the attention after scoring 96.17 points, while Daniel Samohin from Israel finished in a distant second in 83.47, and Patrick Chan of Canada ranked third with 83.41. Another Chinese skater Yan Han only ranked eighth.

Jin only finished fifth at Chicago, he admitted the result was a hit to him but he focused on training after that.

"Today maybe my first jump is not very smooth but it is a good performance. I didn't do well in Chicago, I kept practicing after coming back, although I haven't reached the 100 percent form, I am still satisfied," Jin said.

"I need more practice, I still lack confidence in competition. I hope that I can perform what I have acquired in training," he added.

Chinese pair Yu Xiaoyu/Zhang Hao topped in the pairs' short program despite some flaws with 72.49 points. Liubov Ilyushechkina/Dylan Moscovitch came second with 71.28 while another pair from China Peng Cheng/Jin Yang came third.

Yu Xiaoyu said: "We have made progress, now we are very familiar with each other, the happiest thing for us is to have a goal to fight for."

China's Li Zijun ranked seventh with 61.32 points while Kaetlyn Osmond from Canada ranked first.

Li Zijun said: "I felt a little nervous when I played my first game this season in Russia, but today I felt relax. I hope that I can try my best and leave no regret in free skating tomorrow."

In the ice dance, Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje from Canada ranked first with 73.78 points, Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani of United States earned 73.23 to take second while Russia' s Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin came third in 72.09.

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China ran from Nov. 18 to 20. Skaters compete for points to qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Enditem