Anna Shcherbakova of Russia performs during the Ladies' Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China 2019 in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)
Russian teenage sensation Anna Shcherbakova was the ladies leader after Friday's short program
CHONGQING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian teenage sensation Anna Shcherbakova was the ladies leader after Friday's short program here at the ISU figure skating Grand Prix Cup of China, outscoring Japan's Miyahara Satoko by 4.60 points.
Skating to soundtrack The Perfume, the 15-year-old Russian champion opened her routine with a double Axel and a triple flip before a triple Lutz-triple Loop combination, while she completed all her three spins on level four.
Shcherbakova, who's able to do at least two types of quadruple jump, earned 73.51 point to beat the 23-year-old Miyahara to the second place, after the latter, runner-up at the 2015 world championships, collected 68.91 with a flawed triple-triple performance.
Anna Shcherbakova of Russia performs during the Ladies' Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Cup of China 2019 in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)
Amber Glenn of the United States was the third-placed skater on 67.69, while China's teenage skaters Zhu Yi and Chen Hongyi finished in distant ninth and 11th respectively on their senior GP debuts.
"I liked the atmosphere here," the 17-year-old naturalized Zhu Yi commented on her performance, which was also her first time representing China. "Everyone is very encouraging. I was very nervous coming into it, but everyone's helping a lot."
Chen also admitted that she's nervous after tumbling at her very first jump, a triple Lutz.
"I'd never done this before. But I have to try a new jump and I want to do it," said Chen, also 17.
The Cup of China is the fourth stop of the 2019-2020 ISU figure skating Grand Prix season, out of a total of six GP events ahead of the year-end GP Finals.
