American Amber Glenn in second behind Japan’s Chiba after short program at Cup of China
CHONGQING, China (AP) — American figure skater Amber Glenn faltered on her combination jump to finish second behind Japan’s Mone Chiba in a very close short program at the Cup of China on Friday.
Skating to “This Time” by Janet Jackson, Glenn opened with a slightly under-rotated triple axel and stepped out of the landing of the triple flip-triple toeloop combination.
The U.S. champion recovered to deliver a clean triple loop and finished with 70.84 points, just 0.02 points behind Chiba.
“I am happy I was able to recover after a mistake and that is big progress for me,” Glenn said. “I haven’t been my best since I’ve been here so I’ve been just really focused on the mental side and staying strong on that.”
Glenn claimed her first Grand Prix title in France this month and is hoping to nail down a spot for the Grand Prix Final next month in Grenoble, France.
“It’s quite different from France, where I had a really big lead going into the free program,” Glenn said. “But I think that’s pretty good for me, especially mentally, because I know I need to fight for every single thing rather than playing it safe like I did there.”
Skating to Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” Chiba was deducted points for an unclear edge on her opening triple lutz but recovered with a solid double axel and a triple flip to score 70.86 points.
“I think I did it all today and enjoyed my performance,” Chiba said. “I was able to skate with my smile during the whole program.”
Chiba’s compatriot Rion Sumiyoshi was third with 70.48 points after landing a double axel, a triple lutz-triple toeloop combination and a triple flip.
Kim Chae-yeon of South Korea was fourth followed by Rinka Watanabe of Japan in fifth.
The standings could look differently after the free skating, with the top five skaters separated by just a little over one and a half points.
The Cup of China is the sixth and final event in the International Skating Union’s Grand Prix series. It is the last chance for skaters to secure spots at the Dec. 5-8 Grand Prix Final.
In the men’s short program, Skate Canada silver medalist Shun Sato of Japan landed a quad lutz and a quad toe loop-triple toeloop combination to finish first with 98.75 points.
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakstan was second with 93.21 points.
Adam Siao Him Fa of France, who won his home event the Grand Prix of France, opened with a a quad lutz-triple toeloop but fell on the quad toeloop before cleanly landing a triple axel for 91.22 points and third place.
In ice dance, two-time European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri were first in the rhythm dance with 84.84 points.
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada were second with 81.53 points followed by Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S. with 79.22.