The 2004 Cup of China, the fourth leg of the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating, opens this afternoon at Beijing Capital Gymnasium.

Two pairs of home favourites, Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, the pairs winners of Skate Canada International, and Zhang Dan/Zhang Hao, winners of Skate America, are looking to win on home soil, starting with today's short program.

Finishing first with their new routine to the music "The Soong Sisters" at Skate Canada, Shen and Zhao still hope for perfection in Beijing.

"Although the new program was approved by most experts, it still needs further improvement in some details," said Zhao. "We will make some fine adjustments to meet the needs of the new judging system better in the Cup of China, our scoring event."

Young teammates, Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao are confident with the home show as well.

"Although we are still away behind Shen and Zhao, we are making progress every day," Zhang Hao said. "We will try our best to perform as well as them in front of the home supporters."

With the withdrawal of Russia's injured Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, the two Chinese pairs will be strong title contenders.

China's Li Chengjiang, who ranked fifth in the men's singles at last week's NHK Trophy but got the highest score for the technical elements in free skating, will challenge for his first Grand Prix title against German Stefan Lindemann, the bronze medallist of the 2004 World Championships.

The ladies' singles may be a little disappointing to Chinese figure-skating fans for the withdrawal of American Sasha Cohen.

The runner-up of the 2004 Dortmund World Championships withdrew again after the registered Skate America for a recurring back injury. According to her doctors, she can only carry out simple practice moves and no difficult jumps.

Her absence will leave the title more open for the returning Russian world champion Irina Slutskaya and Japan's rising star Miki Ando.

The Cup of China will run until Sunday, with 46 top world figure skaters from 17 countries and regions.

(China Daily November 11, 2004)