National team figure skaters shine at Chinese championship

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Figure skaters from the Chinese national team proved their dominance at the Chinese Figure Skating Championship in Changchun, northeastern Jilin Province, on Sunday.

The national team skaters took home all of the competition's major titles, including men's singles, women's singles, pair skating and ice dancing.

Yan Han, who won the men's singles title, had a smooth performance on the ice, despite making a mistake while doing the three and a half twist. Yan had shoulder surgery in March and didn't start training again until August.

On the women's side, it was Li Xiangning who took the gold medal.

Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao won gold for their performance of "Star Wars" during the pair skating competitions. Earlier in November, the pair won a silver medal at the China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Beijing.

Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu won the ice dancing title, but they are still making adjustments to achieve better results. "Ice dancing has always been our weakness and needs to be strengthened," according to Olympic champion Zhao Hongbo, who is now head coach of the national figure skating team.

With the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Games, the players have one more month to hone their skills.

China will send three entries for pair skating, two for men's singles, one for women's singles and one for ice dancing to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.