The key facts

  • Alexandra Trusova — second at the China Grand Prix with 221.27 points
  • The winner was Japan's Mone Chiba (224.48), third — Lee Hae-in of South Korea (210.79)
  • Trusova received an invitation to the stage as first alternate after her victory in Almaty

Silver at the stage in China

Russian figure skater Alexandra Trusova took second place at the Grand Prix stage in China, reports Gazeta.Ru. In the combined total of two skates she scored 221.27 points. The winner was Japan's Mone Chiba (224.48), with third place going to Lee Hae-in of South Korea (210.79). Fourth was Anastasia Gubanova, competing for Georgia (208.58).

How the tournament unfolded

In the short program Trusova performed a double Axel, a triple loop and a triple Lutz–triple toe loop combination; the judges assessed her skate at 72.37 points, which gave her third place going into the free skate. Her gap behind Chiba after the two programs was 3.21 points. The outlet noted that earlier Trusova fell on the quadruple Lutz.

Path to the stage via alternate status

Notably, participation in the Chinese stage was not originally planned: on October 10 Trusova won the Challenger series event, the Denis Ten Memorial, in Almaty with a total of 226.01 points, which made her first on the alternates list and earned her an invitation to the China Grand Prix. Thus, she claimed the stage silver in a competition she entered as an alternate skater.