Jin Boyang to attend figure skating event in France

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China's top male figure skater Jin Boyang, who has had issues with getting a Schengen Visa, will be able to make it to France on time for the 2018 Internationaux de France of the 2018-19 International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating.

ISU confirmed the news on its account on China's Twitter-like Weibo after communicating with French authorities.

Jin has already been issued a visa and will arrive in the country on Thursday, one day before the event.

The athlete had planned to go to France earlier and start his practice on Wednesday, but failed to get a Schengen Visa.

Tencent Sports said Jin was not denied a visa, rather the official documents were not issued for unknown reasons, without further explanation.

Nathan Chen already has 15 points and he only needs to rank top 5 in France to be qualified for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Canada in December. /VCG Photo

This is not the first time Jin encounters hurdles while seeking authorization to enter a foreign country. Just this month, he nearly missed the Grand Prix Helsinki because of visa problems.

Before the ISU helped Jin with his Schengen Visa, he had joked that with two consecutive strikes with visa procedures, he should try his luck in lottery tickets.

Though Jin will be competing in France, he still has a long way from the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Canada in December and it may take a miracle for him to be qualified for the finals.

Alexander Samarin has nine points and needs to be at least a runner-up in France for the Final. /VCG Photo

So far there are four skaters who have already locked their spots in the final, namely Yuzuru Hanyu (30 points), Shoma Uno (30 points), Michal Brezina (26 points) and Sergei Voronov (24 points), leaving only two slots for others to battle for.

Jin who did not perform well in Finland has only seven points and needs to outperform both Nathan Chen (15 points) and Alexander Samarin (nine points).

Chen only needs to make it to the top 5 which will give him over seven points so he can surpass Cha Jun-hwan (22 points) and make it to the final. Samarin will need to be at least the runner-up which is worth 13 points so he can compete with Cha over specific scores. Meanwhile, Jin has the most challenging task: he must win the title in France to get 22 points which will make him eligible for the event in Canada.