In-depth final report · Updated 9 November 2026
A quad Lutz won the free skate. It did not win the title. Mone Chiba held off Alexandra Ignatova by 3.21 points, Kao Miura powered to 293.25, and the pairs bronze came down to just 0.04. Shenzhen delivered four podiums—and several very different ways to win.
The weekend at a glance
- Event: ISU Grand Prix Cup of China 2026, the third of six qualifying stops in the 2026–27 series.
- When and where: 6–8 November 2026, Shenzhen Universiade Center, Shenzhen, China.
- Local time: China Standard Time, UTC+8. Women, pairs and ice dance concluded on 7 November; the men finished on 8 November.
- Report status: Final results, checked 9 November 2026. This is Figure Lounge’s independent report, based on ISU results and protocols.
Women: Chiba lost the free skate—and kept the gold
| Rank | Skater · representation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mone Chiba · JPN | 224.48 |
| 2 | Alexandra Ignatova · AIN2 | 221.27 |
| 3 | Haein Lee · KOR | 210.79 |
| 4 | Anastasiia Gubanova · GEO | 208.58 |
Chiba’s 76.08 short program gave her a 3.71-point advantage over Ignatova’s 72.37. Ignatova answered with the best free skate, 148.90, but recovered only 0.50 against Chiba’s 148.40. The remaining 3.21 decided the title. Chiba did not sweep both segments.
The free-skate protocol explains the tension. Ignatova’s opening quadruple Lutz earned 14.29 points, including +2.79 in Grade of Execution (GOE), the adjustment for execution quality. Her technical element score (TES) was 83.01 to Chiba’s 78.12. Chiba countered with 70.28 in program components (PCS)—composition, presentation and skating skills—against 65.89. That 4.39-point component advantage nearly canceled a 4.89-point technical deficit.
Chiba’s Debussy program was not entirely unmarked: a triple Lutz in her jump sequence received a q notation and negative GOE. Calling every jump flawless would miss both the protocol and the story: she protected a lead across two programs.
Lee supplied the other comeback, rising from sixth to bronze with 143.30 in the free skate. Her opening triple Axel earned 9.60, including +1.60 GOE. Her 210.79 total put her 2.21 ahead of Gubanova. The ISU identified this as Lee’s first Grand Prix medal.
Watch the champion: Mone Chiba
Watch Chiba’s Cup of China free skate to “Clair de Lune”.
Protocol-guided viewing: follow the Level 4 step sequence and the late combination spin, worth 5.68 and 5.94 points respectively. They show why the scoring story extends beyond jump difficulty.
Men: Miura turned a narrow lead into a statement
| Rank | Skater · representation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kao Miura · JPN | 293.25 |
| 2 | Vladislav Dikidzhi · AIN2 | 282.44 |
| 3 | Evgeni Semenenko · AIN2 | 281.62 |
| 4 | Shun Sato · JPN | 277.20 |
| 5 | Mikhail Shaidorov · KAZ | 263.49 |
| 7 | Minkyu Seo · KOR | 249.14 |
Miura led Sato by only 0.93 after the short program. His 190.35 free skate then delivered a 10.81-point overall victory over Dikidzhi. Sato slipped to fourth; Semenenko took bronze, just 0.82 behind silver.
Miura’s opening quad Salchow and quad toe loop–triple toe loop earned 12.19 and 15.33. Yet the decisive comparison is broader: his free-skate TES of 101.64 barely exceeded Dikidzhi’s 101.52, while his PCS led 88.71 to 82.06. The winner combined technical scoring with a substantial component advantage. His flying camel spin received Level 2 and negative GOE, so this was not an across-the-board Level 4 performance.
Seo’s recovery also deserves attention: tenth in the short, fifth in the free and seventh overall. Segment placement and final placement tell different parts of his weekend.
Watch the champion: Kao Miura
Watch Miura’s Cup of China free skate to the “Jekyll & Hyde” musical soundtrack.
Protocol-guided viewing: compare the opening quad passes with the later Level 4 step sequence, worth 5.68. Use the spin call as a reminder that even a winning skate contains points left behind.
Pairs: a clear gold, a bronze decided by 0.04
| Rank | Team · representation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anastasia Mishina / Aleksandr Galliamov · AIN2 | 209.84 |
| 2 | Anastasiia Metelkina / Luka Berulava · GEO | 198.27 |
| 3 | Yuna Nagaoka / Sumitada Moriguchi · JPN | 181.50 |
| 4 | Karina Akopova / Nikita Rakhmanin · ARM | 181.46 |
Mishina and Galliamov won both segments, finishing 11.57 clear. Their free skate paired a Level 4 triple twist with positively graded throw flip and throw loop. Their opening side-by-side sequence did receive a q notation and negative GOE; describing the whole program as clean would overstate it.
Nagaoka and Moriguchi climbed from fourth to their first Grand Prix medal. The 0.04-point gap over Akopova and Rakhmanin makes this the weekend’s sharpest illustration of how small accumulated differences decide a podium. Akopova and Rakhmanin represented Armenia, not AIN.
Watch the champions: Mishina / Galliamov
Watch their Cup of China free skate to “Liebestraum”.
Protocol-guided viewing: contrast the opening jump sequence with the triple twist and throws; their contributions to the score were very different.
Ice dance: Fear / Gibson win another close contest
| Rank | Team · representation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson · GBR | 194.93 |
| 2 | Diana Davis / Gleb Smolkin · GEO | 193.54 |
| 3 | Olivia Smart / Tim Dieck · ESP | 178.30 |
| 4 | Natalie Taschlerova / Filip Taschler · CZE | 178.21 |
Fear and Gibson won both dances and the title by 1.39. Their free dance contributed 114.93, only 0.70 more than Davis and Smolkin’s 114.23. Smart and Dieck rose from fifth after the rhythm dance to bronze, finishing just 0.09 ahead of the Czech team.
The champions’ free-dance twizzles were called Level 3 for Fear and Level 4 for Gibson. Their stationary lift received Level 4 and +1.58 GOE. Winning did not require maximum levels on every element; the result reflected the entire scoring sheet.
Watch the champions: Fear / Gibson
Watch their Cup of China free dance, titled “Get The Party Started” by the broadcaster.
Protocol-guided viewing: follow the twizzles and compare their scoring with the stationary lift. All four performance links above are from SBS’s skating channel; Korean titles identify the programs. Availability and embedding can vary by territory.
What Shenzhen changed in the Final race
Fear and Gibson completed two wins for 30 series points. Miura’s silver in France and gold here produced 28, as did Metelkina and Berulava’s gold in France and silver here. The ISU’s event recap confirmed all three had qualified for the Grand Prix Final. Chiba and Mishina / Galliamov each opened their series with a win; one victory alone should not be described as qualification.
The next stop is Skate America in Everett, 13–15 November. The Final is scheduled for Chongqing, 10–13 December 2026.
Representation note: AIN means Individual Neutral Athlete. Tables preserve the event’s AIN2 code. The ISU’s 30 June 2026 decision allowed eligible skaters affiliated with Russia and Belarus to return under neutral conditions, without national flags, national kit or national anthems. Representation is not interchangeable with birthplace or training location.
Sources and further reading
- ISU official event results, schedule and judges’ protocols: final standings for all four disciplines and free-skate/free-dance element details.
- ISU Cup of China event recap, 8 November 2026: medal milestones, Final qualification and remaining schedule.
- ISU series standings: men, pairs, ice dance. The standings pages label their running entries/results as unofficial.
- ISU neutral-athlete readmission decision, 30 June 2026.
Continue with Figure Lounge’s 2026–27 international season guide or explore how the Axel’s takeoff and rotations work.