Just how ready are defending Olympic champions Wenjing Sui/Cong Han for their first competition since, well, that Olympics? Well, we will find out soon enough at this week’s Cup of China. This pairs field is phenomenally stacked, and just like the women’s and men’s events, this will be, officially or unofficially, domestic competitions for Olympic spots.
2025 Cup of China predictions
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GOLD Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava GEO - It’s been a dream start to their Olympic season. And after missing the World podium the past couple of seasons, they are looking to establish themselves as favorites for the Olympic podium. Their programs this season have been inspired and they have just sprinted out of the gates. They have been just a bit more consistent than Conti/Macii so far, and that may be the difference.
SILVER Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii ITA - In their two competitions this season, the two-time World bronze medalists have yet to really face a team comparable to their level. But this week will be a very different landscape—the battle for gold between them and the Georgians will be intriguing. They will need all of their singles skating prowess to make sure that they hit those crucial solo elements, and gold this week will likely come down to that.
BRONZE Jiaxuan Zhang/Yihang Huang CHN - They proved with their win at the Olympic Qualifying Event last month that they were not only up for the task of qualifying that spot, but they were also ready to really fight for that spot despite being the underdogs in career accolades. It is their debut season on the senior international circuit, but they have been skating far from junior. Taking a lead over Sui/Han this week is almost compulsory for their chances at the Olympic spot that they earned for China.
4. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini ITA - In the fight for the second Olympic spot for Italian pairs, Ghilardi/Ambrosini have had the leg up so far this season. They have scored just around 190 in both of their events so far this season, and they look ready to claim a second berth to the Olympics. This week will be important for them to continue that momentum.
5. Wenjing Sui/Cong Han CHN - “What? You put them where??” they ask. Competing for the first time in almost four years has its challenges, and a big question mark is whether the time that Han has been training leading up to this event has been enough to get his conditioning back. That is perhaps the biggest factor here in their return. Given that they made the decision to skip the Olympic Qualifying Event, it’s very possible that it has taken them a bit longer than they expected to get back into competitive shape.
6. Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel GER - Back from the freak accident injury that almost derailed their Olympic season, Hocke/Kunkel took eighth at a very competitive Nebelhorn Trophy just about a month ago. They can put down some great skating, it’s just a matter of where their consistency is this week.
7. Katie McBeath/Daniil Parkman USA - Second Grand Prix in two weeks for McBeath/Parkman, and with all the competing they’ve done over the past seven weeks—this will be their fourth event since early September—you wonder if fatigue will set in here.
8. Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise ITA - The 2024 European champions have had two seventh-place finishes this season on the Challengers, but more recently, their seventh at Trialeti Trophy was filled with errors across the board. They will need to be stronger this week to contend.