SHENZHEN, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Mone Chiba topped the women's short program with 76.08 points at the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Cup of China on Friday, while Olympic silver medalist Alexandra Ignatova returned to the Grand Prix series after a five-year absence.
Chiba, the 2026 world silver medalist, earned 42.31 points for technical elements and 33.77 for program components, finishing 1.03 points ahead of Georgia's Anastasiia Gubanova, who scored 75.05.
Ignatova, formerly known as Alexandra Trusova, placed third with 72.37 points and received a warm welcome from the crowd. Competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, the 22-year-old last appeared in the Grand Prix series in 2021.
"I felt like a junior skater, as if I were competing for the first time," she said after her performance.
China's Zhu Yi finished seventh with a personal-best 64.58 points, while teammate Zhang Ruiyang placed eighth with 61.20.
In the men's short program, Japan's Kao Miura took the lead with 102.90 points, followed by his compatriot Shun Sato with 101.97. Evgeni Semenenko, competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, placed third with 99.72.
China's Peng Zhiming finished eighth with a personal-best 87.65 points, improving his previous mark by 12.86 points, while teammate Chen Yudong placed ninth with a personal-best 80.74.
Peng said he was happy to compete on home ice and had tried to put aside the pressure to skate with a more relaxed mindset.
Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, competing as neutral athletes, topped the pairs short program with 74.69 points. China's Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang placed eighth with 56.52 points.
In ice dance, Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson led the rhythm dance with 80.00 points, ahead of Georgia's Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin on 79.31.
The Cup of China is the third stop of the 2026-27 ISU Grand Prix series. The women's, pairs and ice dance titles will be decided on Saturday, followed by the men's title on Sunday. ■
