Wenjing Sui & Cong Han scored a runaway victory on home soil at at 2017 Cup of China. It was the first competition of the season for the reigning World pairs champions. “We only competed nationally this season but I think we were in good shape and we looked forward to this event,” Han said.
When the duo decided on selections from ″Turandot″ for their long program — the same music their coach Hongbo Zhao and Shue Xen used for the 2009-2010 Olympic season — Zhao told them they would have to be better than he and Xen and they would have to make it their own.
David Pelletier and Kurt Browning believe they are the frontrunners for 2018 Olympic gold. They will be proven wrong two months from now. Under-estimating Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot’s ability and desire for Olympic gold will overtake all other factors in the race in PyeongChang. They have had a solid season to date, while the Chinese team has been unable to compete due to injury. That never factors well in an Olympic year. We predict they will capture the silver medal.
Nagoya, Japan hosts the 2017-18 Grand Prix Finals (junior and senior). The top six skaters in each discipline — in both the senior and junior ranks — will go head-to-head in one of the most important pre-Olympic showdowns. Historically, skaters and/or teams that win this prestigious event are clear favourites to take the gold at the next Olympic Winter Games.
The competition begins Thursday, Dec. 7 with the junior pairs, men′s and ladies short programs, followed by the senior pairs and men′s short programs with the short dance concluding Day 1 of the action.
The odds-on favorite singles skaters who are the top contenders for Olympic gold in PyeongChang, Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu and Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia, are both currently sidelined by ankle injuries and will not contest this event.
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2017 Grand Prix Final
