CHONGQING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Shun Sato claimed his maiden victory at a Grand Prix while Amber Glenn of the United States jumped on top of the women's podium at the Cup of China here on Saturday, both earning berths to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
As the sixth and last event of the 2024-2025 GP series, the Cup of China offers the last chance for figure skaters to qualify for the year-end finale.
Men's overnight leader Sato hit a quad Lutz, quad toe-triple toe, another quad toe, as well as four triple jumps and two level-four spins and level-four steps to score 179.73 points in his free skate and 278.48 overall, despite a mistake on a planned quad flip.
He edged Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan by just over two points. European champion Adam Siao Him Fa of France settled for the bronze with a 161.31-point free skate and 252.53 in total, but qualified for the Final as well.
China's prospect Dai Dawei came sixth with 237.35 points, while 27-year-old two-time world bronze medalist Jin Boyang slipped to eighth with 231.98.
In the women's draw, Grand Prix de France champion Glenn, who stood in second place after Friday's short program, soared to gold after achieving a personal best score of 144.70 in the free skate and 215.54 overall.
"I'm very excited that I've been able to show consistency throughout these Grand Prix and the season so far and that was my main goal," Glenn said.
She qualified for the GP Final for the first time in her career and will face five Japanese in Grenoble, including Mone Chiba, who took the silver in Chongqing.
South Korea's Kim Chae-yeon rose from fourth to third to earn a bronze. The hosts' representatives, Zhu Yi, An Xiangyi and Chen Hongyi, finished ninth, tenth and 12th among 12 participants.
The other two titles were both nailed by Italian skaters, as Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii beat Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin by one and a half points to top the pairs podium, and two-time world medalists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabric struck gold in the ice dance competition. China's Wang Yuchen and Zhu Lei placed bottom among eight pairs. ■
