Japan's Olympic figure skating gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu, 19, makes his season debut at the Cup of China from Friday, facing stiff competition from home teenage star and defending champion Yan Han, 18.
The competition returns to the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, after taking place in Beijing last year. More than 50 of the world’s best skaters and couples from 12 countries will compete in the third leg of the six-stop Grand Prix series.
Skaters are looking to gather medals and points to reach the circuit’s finale in Barcelona, Spain, in December.
Also making their season debut are ice dance world champions Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte.
The Italian skaters, who also won last year’s European Championships, will have to fend off Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, who captured silver at last month’s Skate America in front of a home crowd with a programme that featured level-four twizzles and a level-four lift.
In a crowded women’s field, the favourite may be Julia Lipnitskaia, 16, who became the youngest modern skater to win an Olympic gold medal as part of Russia’s team at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
She will face her teammate Eliza Tuktamysheva, 18, who looks to continue her hot start to the season. The 2013 European bronze medallist finished second at Skate America, scoring five triples and three level-four spins.
After claiming bronze at Skate America, Chinese pair Peng Cheng and Zhang Hao will attempt to climb the podium in front of a home crowd.
The are joined by 2014 World Junior champions Yu Xiaoyu and Jin Yang in a field that is wide open, after Olympic champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov pulled out due to injury.
Many of the skaters will return to Shanghai in March for the ISU World Figure Skating Championship, the first time the event will be hosted in China.
Source: AFP