Amber Glenn beats Alysa Liu to win figure skating Cup of China

CHONGQING, China (AP) — Amber Glenn overcame neck pain to beat her world champion U.S. teammate Alysa Liu and win the figure skating Cup of China for the second straight year Saturday.

Glenn, the U.S. national champion, clutched her neck after finishing her free skate, in which she recovered from a shaky landing on a triple toeloop near the start.

Glenn had been in third after Friday’s short program, meaning she had to wait for Liu and Japan’s Rinka Watanabe to perform their free skates before she knew where she placed.

Liu slipped back to second with a total 212.07 points to Glenn’s 214.78 after a wobbly landing on a triple flip, while Watanabe only just stayed on the podium, dropping to third after delivering only the fifth-best free skate score.

Glenn said she felt “incredible” and that she was “really excited for my teammate and I to be first and second on the podium.” Despite being a two-time world championship medalist, it’s the first time Liu has been on the podium in a Grand Prix event.

Sato wins men’s gold

Japan’s Shun Sato won the Cup of China men’s event for the second year running, landing three quadruple jumps in a clean free skate for a total 278.12, staying ahead of Italy’s Daniel Grassl on 269.43. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov on 262.67 after falling on his last jump.

In ice dance, world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their first Cup of China at the sixth attempt, scoring a total 208.25 to beat their U.S. teammates Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik on 202.27. Third went to Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France on 196.60.

The pairs free skate is later Saturday.

The Cup of China is the second of six regular season Grand Prix events building to a final in December. It’s a key test for skaters eyeing medals at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.

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