Cup of China 2014 - Men's Free Skate

It looks like the men's event will follow the pattern of unpredictability this Grand Prix competition has set for itself. As such, the Olympic champion is on second, last year's winner is on third and the leader is Maxim Kovtun, who might just make up for the silver medal he got last year in Beijing.

Keiji Tanaka proves my point about Bychenko's strange La Traviata costume by wearing a spot on outfit. Unfortunately everything else is unsatisfactory. He falls on the quad Salchow, but his tendency of getting too close to the barrier endangers a couple of other jumps as well. His score: 132.44. Overall: 189.26.

Yi Wang does one too many single jumps today and falls on the quad Salchow. He ends up with a very low technical score which overshadows the presentation. He gets 103.63 points. Overall: 160.92.

Jin Seo Kims joins the ranks of skaters who aren't able to jump everything as planned, but the major mistake is the fall on the second triple Axel. Presentation wise, he is quite good, but instead of blue, maybe his costume should be somewhere down the lines of orange. This is Legends of the Fall, after all. His score: 121.00. Overall: 183.46.

Yuhang Guan's arm movements are very well thought of to give him the allure of an orchestra conductor, which is a great character to have if you're doing classical music. Technically though he is no better than his predecessors, quite the opposite, as he falls twice. He gets 113.97 points. Overall: 177.66.

Every time Misha Ge gets to the step sequence part of his programmes, he's as happy as a child opening gifts on Christmas morning. His is the first flawless performance of the event. I also love his costume, which tells a story all on its own. The music: Umbrellas of Cherbourg. His score: 149.82. Overall: 219.98.

Yuzuru Hanyu and Han Yan accidentally collide
Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Asia

Nasty accident happens during the warm-up. Yuzuru Hanyu and Han Yan collide, which leaves the Japanese down for quite a long while. He's up eventually, but Han Yan is nowhere to be seen. 

Despite all the commotion, Nam Nguyen keeps his head in the game and moves elements around when they go wrong, so he ends up with two landed triple Axels. Artistically, I think he could evolve into a great comedian. He gets 149.00 points. Overall: 221.85.

Alexei Bychenko's long programme is not as artistically powerful as his short. Nostradamus is a rather ambiguous theme that doesn't give him a lot of moments to shine, except for the very last bit. Lots of technical mistakes as well. His score: 127.19. Overall: 204.15.

If there is one contemporary rock band fit for figure skating, it is Coldplay. Richard Dornbush set his free skate to their Yellow and Viva la Vida and my God, is it beautiful. But then he falls flat on his side, which interrupts the whole rhythm of the routine. He gets 149.50 points. Overall: 226.73.

All patched up, the Japanese holds on to the silver medal
Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Asia

Han Yan doesn't want to let his home crowd down and stays in the competition, but he is visibly shaken. It looks as if he's got some trouble with his left arm, which could explain why he gives up altogether on the triple Flip. Kudos to him for trying and given the circumstances, it's understandable, but this is a poor performance. His score: 127.44. Overall: 206.65.

Yuzuru Hanyu doesn't fare a lot better with four falls in his routine, but he's so brave for trying two quads. This is just a very unfortunate situation that he'll have no problem getting over, I'm sure. The audience adores him, filling the ice with what looks like an impossible-to-carry amount of Pooh teddy bears. He gets 154.60 points. Overall: 237.55.

You can see the accident took its toll on Maxim Kovtun too, for whom it couldn't have been easy to stay focused. He falls on the quad Salchow and has several other small errors, but he still pulls off a decent skate. His music is Exogenesis Symphony by Muse. His score: 157.38. Overall: 243.34.

Oh boy, has this event been unpredictable! In fact, we haven't had a competition like this in a long time and I hope we won't have one very soon either. Maxim Kovtun keeps his first place. Yuzuru Hanyu, after a huge struggle, keeps the silver and Richard Dornbush aided by circumstances I'm sure he didn't wish for, but ultimately due to a great skate, takes the bronze. Congratulations to all of them and the best of wishes to Yuzuru and Han.