If you thought last week’s men’s event was a lot of topsy-turvy, wait until you witness this week at Cup of China. The talent is there, the inconsistency is there, and the complete unknown is also there. Last year’s gold and silver medalists are both here, and Shun Sato and Mikhail Shaidorov are the two who look to be best positioned for the top spot—but who will show up this week and get themselves onto the podium?
2025 Cup of China predictions
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GOLD Mikhail Shaidorov KAZ - The breakout star of last season, Shaidorov has had some great memories at this event. Cup of China was the site of his first Grand Prix medal two years ago, and he graduated from bronze to silver last year, and this year, he comes in as the favorite to win his first Grand Prix title. He comes in after a strong performance at Denis Ten Memorial that earned him the win and one of the best scores of the season so far.
SILVER Shun Sato JPN - The defending champion is looking at this event as the one where he can start proving himself for the Olympic team. His fourth-place start at Lombardia Trophy was not quite where he wanted to be, and he’s got a chance to right the ship here, starting with the short program, where he made his issues at Lombardia.
BRONZE Junhwan Cha KOR - After a solid win at Kinoshita Group Cup to start his season, boot issues forced him to withdraw from Denis Ten Memorial just three weeks ago. Has it been enough time for him to figure out his equipment? If he’s anything like how he looked at Denis Ten, then chances are low for him to even get into the top half. But practice clips have looked promising, and perhaps a return to the podium is in his future.
4. Daniel Grassl ITA - Bronze at Nepela Memorial, Grassl enters this season having qualified for two of the last three Grand Prix Finals. As is often the case, the strictness of the technical panel could be the difference between him being on or off the podium.
5. Sota Yamamoto JPN - A nagging back injury has made Yamamoto go a bit more conservative on his technical content recently, with the quad salchow seeming to bother him more than the quad toe. Unless something has changed drastically over the past month, expect him to bring that lower tech content to this event, but that could be a good thing for him to stay consistent.
6. Tomoki Hiwatashi USA - It has been a while since we’ve seen Hiwatashi put together multiple solid competitions in a row, and his two bronze medal finishes on the Challenger series have certainly opened the door back up for Olympic possibilities.
7. Jacob Sanchez USA - This season so far has been solid short and subpar free, and if he can figure out his free skate during the Grand Prix, there’s a lot that he can do for his chances at an Olympic spot. It starts here at his Grand Prix debut—two strong skates here, especially with this potentially inconsistent field, could land him in the top five.
8. Vladimir Litvintsev AZE - Sixth at Denis Ten and then eighth at Trialeti a week later, Litvintsev has already had quite a month of competitions. He continues to be one of the skaters who brings you something out of the ordinary, like his Joker free skate this season.
9. Daiwei Dai CHN - Dai delivered his best career performances at this very competition last season, and of the three guys here fighting for the sole Olympic spot for the Chinese men, he’s the one who has been the most impressive over the past couple of seasons.
10. Deniss Vasiljevs LAT - The big news of last week was Vasiljevs’ announcement that he had parted ways with long-time coach Stephane Lambiel during such a crucial season. This is the first year since 2016 where Vasiljevs has not competed in anything before the Grand Prix, and we have zero idea what his preparation has been, especially given his coaching change.
11. Boyang Jin CHN - Just like Vasiljevs, we literally have no idea what to expect with Jin this week. We haven’t seen him in competition since last November at this very event. In the absence of information, it just feels like the menning possibilities are even higher.
12. Zhiming Peng CHN - Peng makes his fully-international Grand Prix debut this week—he was at the domestic GP during COVID. Of the three Chinese men here this week vying for the Olympic spot, he is the least internationally-experienced.