Crystal Skate

The one discipline the Chinese are acing at their own Grand Prix is the pairs. Leading are Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang, followed by Xuehan Wang/Lei Wang, who are ahead of Xiaoyu Yu/Yang Jin. But Vera Bazarova/Andrei Deputat's fourth place is just close enough to snatch a place on the podium. Arina Cherniavskaia/Antonino Souza-Kordyeru  are first to go with a fun Glenn Miller song. However, what should look like a window into a 1930 party, is just elements done to a song. No worries though, they are a new couple and they've got plenty of time to improve their chemistry. Their score: 86.71 . Overall: 133.45 . Lots of passion from Nicole della Monica/Matteo Guarise  as they skate to The Mask of Zorro . They have lots of errors though; in fact every single element has some sort of flaw. They get 102.42  points. Overall: 155.90 . Jessica Calalang/Zack Sidhu  have plenty of technical errors in addition to the interpretation of Romeo and Juliet  not being anywhere near ...

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. Pr...

The short programme of the ladies went on just as predicted, with Lipnitskaia and Tuktamysheva fighting for first place and the elegant Kanako Murakami right behind them on third. Evita  is a roller-coaster of emotions (happiness, excitement, sadness, desperation), but Ashley Cain  doesn't portray any of that despite the fact that the songs she chose go through them all. Frankly, I believe she's not doing the musical any justice. Biggest mistakes are the fall on the triple Lutz and the step out of the double Axel. Her score: 85.01 . Overall: 124.81 . Anne Line Gjersem  struggles with the jumps today - two falls (triple Flip and Toeloop) and two step outs (second triple Loop and second double Axel). Presentation wise, I am a purist and so I think she should have worn white with a song such as Un ange passe  ( An Angel Passes ). She gets 80.85  points. Overall: 122.78 . Hae Jin Kim, eager to fill in Yuna Kim's skates Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Asia...

The order of the top three couples after the ice dancers' short programme was definitely unexpected. Thus the World champions, Cappellini and Lanotte, fell to second place after a set of bad twizzles. The lead was taken by the Shibutani siblings and on third came France's newest couple, Papadakis and Cizeron, after defeating Ilinykh and Zhiganshin at their first event together. Yue Zhao/Xun Zheng  kick off the competition with a selection of tangos. I find it enjoyable, although I think they could've attacked the Assassins' Tango more. Their elements are not that difficult, but their last circular spin is very pretty. Their score: 61.56 . Overall: 103.44 . Yiyi Zhang/Nan Wu 's Prince of Egypt  benefits from a good choreography, but it isn't interpreted with as much emotion as the tangos were. He does an extra rotation right at the end of the twizzles. They get 63.76  points. Overall: 103.44 . Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu  are far better than their countrymen. Ska...

There are rare occasions in figure skating when a champion is the not the most celebrated skater in his own country. This is bound to be one of them, as the crowd in Shanghai will surely be torn between rooting for last year's winner, Han Yan, and the one skater everyone in the world adores: Yuzuru Hanyu. But before we get to them, there's plenty of other potential future champions to keep an eye on. A fine start from Yuhang Guan , who skates on Bon Voyage  and Conquest of Paradise . This is his first important senior competition and it's a flawless performance. He doesn't even try to jump the triple Axel though, just a double, which will hurt him technically. His score: 63.69 . Richard Dornbush is slightly under-graded by the judges Photograph: Feng Li/Getty Images Asia Yi Wang 's formal uniform fits his waltz theme perfectly. His low spins need a bit more practice, but he is quite flexible and has no problems with the high ones. Technically though, he...

This season's Cup of China, taking place in the slick Oriental Sports Centre of Shanghai, will introduce us not only to new routines from top-of-the-pile skaters, but also to some intriguing new pairings (ahem, the Ilinykh-Katsalapov Affair). Elena and Nikita's last free skate together Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images Asia So let's begin with ice dance. Last season, there was a crazy rumour circling around the World Championships that Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov were calling it quits. They didn't deny or admit it at first, but they did give themselves away pretty easily (unless rolling your eyes at your partner's mistake is a friendly gesture). When they finally confirmed their partnership was over, it was clear that this was no sudden decision. They had both already procured for themselves brand new partners: Ruslan Zighanshin for Elena and his partner, Victoria Sinitsina for Nikita. Now, I don't know what strings were pulled backstage to mi...