SHENZHEN, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Mone Chiba claimed the women's title with 224.48 points at the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Cup of China here on Saturday, finishing 3.21 points ahead of runner-up Alexandra Ignatova.
Chiba, 21, scored 148.40 points to finish second in Saturday's free skate, but her 76.08 points in the short program gave her the highest combined score and earned her the title.
"I felt quite nervous during today's performance, and at times I even forgot what I had practiced in training. It's something I need to reflect on after this competition and work to improve for my next event," said Chiba, the 2026 world silver medalist.
Ignatova, who returned to the Grand Prix series after a five-year absence, scored 148.90 points to win the free skate but finished second overall with 221.27 points.
"After returning to competition following the birth of my baby, I'm very glad I was able to skate well here," said Ignatova, who competed as an Individual Neutral Athlete.
"In the past, finishing first was the most important thing for me. But now, what matters most is skating cleanly and consistently, and that's what I did," she added.
South Korea's Lee Hae-in took bronze with 210.79 points overall, including 143.30 points in the free skate.
China's Zhu Yi finished eighth with a personal-best total of 180.47 points, while her teammate Zhang Ruiyang placed ninth.
Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, competing as Individual Neutral Athletes, topped the pairs free skate with 135.15 points to claim the gold medal with a total score of 209.84 points.
Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava took silver with 198.27 points, ahead of Japan's Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi. China's Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang placed seventh.
In the free dance, Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson produced a steady performance to score 114.93 in the free and 194.93 points in total, sealing the title, followed by runners-up Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin of Georgia with 193.54 points, while the bronze medal went to Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck of Spain on 178.30 points.
China's Xiao Zixi and He Linghao, Ren Junfei and Xing Jianing, and Lin Yufei and Gao Zijian finished eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively, in ice dance.
The men's title will be decided on Sunday, the last competition day of the three-day tournament. ■
