The Shanghai Trophy 2023 was held in China last week and was a fantastically entertaining event, with the highlight being Adam Siao Him Fa’s controversial backflip in the Free Skate. It was great to see a huge and appreciative crowd in attendance too. The event production values were also high, with lighting and camera work of a higher standard than we’re used to seeing on the general ISU circuit recently. Here we’ll take a look at the final results and that amazing, but illegal, backflip.
First up, here’s a look at the final results. Each category had a maximum of 6 entrants, so the results list is a little shorter than usual, but the competition certainly attracted high level skaters.
Men’s Final Results
| Place | Skater | Nationality | Short Program | Free Skate | Total Score |
| 1. | Adam Siao Him Fa | France | 84.00 | 198.80 | 282.80 |
| 2. | Junhwan Cha | Korea | 91.80 | 163.06 | 254.86 |
| 3. | Boyang Jin | China | 76.21 | 162.12 | 238.33 |
| 4. | Matteo Rizzo | Italy | 64.27 | 136.58 | 200.85 |
| 5. | Jimmy Ma | USA | 62.30 | 137.03 | 199.33 |
| 6. | Daiwei Dai | China | 49.32 | 105.95 | 155.27 |
French figure skater, Adam Siao Him Fa, took an impressive win in Shanghai, even after a 2 point deduction for an illegal backflip. His performance was mesmerising, earning him 282.80 points, and he really seems to have found some serious form. He won the Shanghai Trophy by almost 30 points, a fantastic margin. Junhwan Cha, of Korea, seemed to have regained some of the form that eluded him at the Nepela Memorial a few days earlier. He finished 2nd in China and was followed by Boyang Jin in 3rd, with 238.33 points.
Women’s Final Results
| Place | Skater | Nationality | Short Program | Free Skate | Total Score |
| 1. | Bradie Tennell | USA | 67.38 | 132.42 | 199.80 |
| 2. | Haein Lee | Korea | 69.57 | 126.83 | 196.40 |
| 3. | Niina Petrokina | Estonia | 60.93 | 131.08 | 192.01 |
| 4. | Nina Pinzarrone | Belgium | 59.21 | 121.85 | 181.06 |
| 5. | Xiangyi An | China | 50.99 | 105.71 | 156.70 |
| 6. | Hongyi Chen | China | 49.35 | 88.60 | 137.95 |
In the Women’s event, Bradie Tennell (USA), finished in 1st place, closely followed by Haein Lee, of Korea, in 2nd and Niina Petrokina, of Estonia, in 3rd. The top 3 were separated by just 7.79 points, making it a closely fought battle.
Pairs Final Results
| Place | Skater | Nationality | Short Program | Free Skate | Total Score |
| 1. | Peng / Wang | China | 62.33 | 118.34 | 180.67 |
| 2. | Hocke / Kunkel | Germany | 63.37 | 116.06 | 179.43 |
| 3. | Zhang / Yang | China | 56.09 | 117.48 | 173.57 |
| 4. | Golubeva / Giotopoulos Moore | Australia | 63.51 | 97.71 | 161.22 |
Peng & Wang took the win for China in pairs, with a final score of 180.67 points. There was less than a point between first and second place with Hocke and Kunkel, of Germany, in the runners up position with 179.43 points. The Chinese are certainly making an impressive return to the figure skating scene as they also had another pair on the podium, with Zhang and Yang in 3rd place on 173.57 points. It’s great to see the Chinese making a comeback as international figure skating can only benefit from their involvement.
Ice Dance Results
| Place | Skater | Nationality | Short Program | Free Skate | Total Score |
| 1. | Guignard / Fabbri | Italy | 77.14 | 126.14 | 203.28 |
| 2. | Lopareva / Brissaud | France | 73.56 | 112.16 | 185.72 |
| 3. | Wang / Liu | China | 70.64 | 106.93 | 177.57 |
| 4. | Harris / Chan | Australia | 64.44 | 97.08 | 161.52 |
| 5. | Chen / Xing | China | 63.98 | 91.01 | 154.99 |
Adam Siao Him Fa and the controversial backflip…
Now lets discuss Adam Siao Him Fa’s controversial backflip in the Free Skate. Controversial though it was (because it’s currently an illegal move in figure skating), it was refreshing to see a skater brave enough to think outside the box by including a challenging element into his program. It really added the wow factor to Adam’s performance!
The backflip may be illegal, but it might be time to consider why this is so? Figure skating is increasingly a fusion of dance and extreme sports and surely it’s time to add new elements to the scoring sheets. While it shouldn’t be mandatory, it should be an option for skaters to freely choose to include it and be scored accordingly, rather than receiving penalties.
This is just our opinion, so let us know what you think on our Instagram and Twitter!