Yu Xiaoyu

Yu Xiaoyu (Chinese: 于小雨; pinyin: Yú Xiǎoyǔ; Mandarin pronunciation: [y̌ ɕjàu ỳ]; born in Beijing) is a Chinese female pair skater. With current partner Zhang Hao, she is the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, 2017 Asian Winter Games champion and 2018 Chinese national champion. With former partner Jin Yang, she is a two-time (2014, 2015) World Junior champion, the 2012 World Junior silver medalist, the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics champion, the 2013–2014 JGP Final champion, and the 2016 Four Continents bronze medalist.

Yu Xiaoyu
Yu and Zhang in 2016
Personal information
Country represented China
Born (1996-01-02) January 2, 1996[1]
Beijing, China
Home townBeijing
ResidenceBeijing
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
PartnerZhang Hao
Former partnerJin Yang
CoachHongbo Zhao, Bin Yao, Bing Han
Former coachYang Ding, Luan Bo
ChoreographerDavid Wilson
Former choreographerMarina Zueva, Zhang Wei
Skating clubBeijing Century Star FSC
ISU personal best scores
Combined total219.20
2017 Skate America
Short program75.58
2018 Winter Olympics
Free skate145.53
2017 Skate America

Partnership with Jin Yang

Yu/Jin were paired together by their coaches in 2009.[2] They did on- and off-ice training from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon with a break in the middle.[2]

2010–11 season

Yu/Jin won the silver medal at the 2010 Chinese Nationals. They made their international debut during the 2010–11 season. They won bronze at JGP Cup of Austria and then won gold at Czech Skate. At the Junior Grand Prix Final, they won the bronze medal.

2011–12 season

Yu and Jin at 2011 Skate Canada

The pair performed a quad twist at a national competition in 2011, when Yu was 15 and Jin was 17 years old (or 13 and 22).[2] They finished 7th at the 2011 Skate Canada and 6th at the 2011 Cup of China. They then won the bronze medal at their national championships. Yu/Jin competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships and won the silver medal behind teammates and training partners Sui Wenjing/Han Cong.

2012–13 season

In the 2012-13 season, Yu/Jin finished 4th in JGP Austria and 2nd in JGP Croatia in their JGP Events. They finished 5th at the JGP Final. Yu/Jin then competed at the 2013 World Junior Championships and finished 4th.

2013–14 season

Prior to the 2013-14 season, Yu/Jin changed coaches, moving from Luan Bo to Olympic pairs champion Zhao Hongbo, Yao Bin, and Han Bing. They won the gold medals in their JGP events at the 2013 JGP Latvia and 2013 JGP Estonia qualifying them to their fourth JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan where they won the gold medal. Yu/Jin finished their perfect season by winning gold at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2014–15 season

In the 2014-15 season, Yu/Jin made their official senior debut on the Grand Prix circuit. They won a silver medal at the 2014 Cup of China and a bronze medal at the 2014 NHK Trophy, qualifying them for their first senior Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain. At the Grand Prix Final they set new personal bests in both the short program and free skate to finish in 5th place. They then went on to win their second national title. With the surprise comeback of Pang/Tong, Yu/Jin were not given a spot to compete at the Four Continents Championships in Seoul and the World Championships in Shanghai, China. Instead, they were sent to the 2015 Winter Universiade where they won the gold medal. It was later announced that they would compete at the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. Despite training senior program layouts for much of the season, they managed to successfully defend their Junior World title, winning both segments of the competition.

2015–16 season

Yu/Jin were assigned to Cup of China and NHK Trophy. They attempted their first throw quadruple salchow in competition at Cup of China and won a bronze medal. They then went on to win silver at 2015 NHK Trophy which helped qualify them for the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona. At the Final they placed 5th.[3]

At the 2016 Four Continents Championships, Yu/Jin claimed the bronze.[4]

Partnership with Zhang Hao

2016–17 season

On April 14, 2016, International Figure Skating magazine broke the news of Yu's new partnership with Zhang Hao. The Chinese Skating Association decided to switch partners between the two pairs of Peng/Zhang and Yu/Jin.[5][6] They took the silver medal at the 2016 Skate Canada and won gold at the 2016 Cup of China. At the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final in Marseille they won the silver medal behind Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov.

2017–18 season

Yu/Zhang began their season at the 2017 Cup of Nice where they placed first.[7] In their first Grand Prix event of the season, Yu/Zhang placed second at the 2017 Cup of China after ranking second in both the short program and free skate.[8] In their second Grand Prix event at 2017 Skate America, Yu/Zhang again placed second after ranking second in both programs.[9] Their scores in both Grand Prix events have qualified Yu/Zhang for the 2017-18 Grand Prix Final.[10][10]

Programs

With Zhang Hao

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2019–20
    2018–19 Did not compete this season
      2017–18
      [11]
      2016–17
      [13]
      • Eternal Flame
      • Fearless
        by Brand X Music
        choreo. by David Wilson
      • Leon
        by Eric Serra

      With Jin Yang

      Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
      2015–16
      [14]
      2014–15
      [15]
      • Everyday I Miss You
        (from Nessun Dorma)
        by Sun Nan
      2013–14
      [16]
      2012–13
      [17]
      2011–12
      [18]
      2010–11
      [1]
      2009–10
      [19]
      • The Love of Death
        by Park Sei Joon

      Competitive highlights

      GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

      With Zhang

      International[20]
      Event 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019-20
      Olympics8th
      Worlds4th7th
      Four Continents4th
      GP Final2nd6th
      GP Cup of China1st2nd
      GP Skate Canada2nd
      GP Skate America2ndWD
      GP France WD
      Asian Games1st
      Cup of Nice1st
      National
      Chinese Champ.1st4th

      With Jin

      International[21]
      Event 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16
      Four Continents3rd
      GP Final5th5th
      GP Cup of China6th2nd3rd
      GP NHK Trophy3rd2nd
      GP Skate Canada7th
      Universiade1st
      International: Junior[21]
      Junior Worlds8th*2nd4th1st1st
      Youth Olympics1st
      JGP Final3rd5th5th1st
      JGP Austria3rd2nd4th
      JGP Croatia2nd
      JGP Czech Rep.1st
      JGP Estonia1st
      JGP Latvia2nd1st
      National[21]
      Chinese Champ.6th4th2nd3rd1st3rd1st
      Chinese NG7th4th
      *Placement removed as China was erroneously allowed one too many entries.

      References

      1. "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
      2. Flade, Tatjana (March 7, 2012). "Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin on the rise". Golden Skate.
      3. Xiong, Wei (12 February 2016). "Yu and Jin: 2015-16 a season for improvement". Golden Skate.
      4. Flade, Tatjana (20 February 2016). "China's Sui and Han take third Four Continents title". Golden Skate.
      5. "The Chinese fans are very unhappy...they took to Weibo in droves today to protest two of China's pairs teams being split and paired with different partners. The Federation has split Xiaoyu Yu and Jin Yang, the two-time World Junior champions, and Peng Cheng and Hao Zhang. Yu is now partnered with Zhang and Cheng will compete with Yang". International Figure Skating magazine (Facebook). April 14, 2016.
      6. "Nelle notizie di aprile tiene banco la rivoluzione tra le coppie di artistico cinesi". NEVE ITALIA (in Italian). April 27, 2016.
      7. "22nd INTERNATIONNAL CUP OF NICE 2017 - Senior Pairs". Nice Baie des Anges Association. October 15, 2017.
      8. "ISU GP Audi Cup of China 2017 - Pairs". International Skating Union. November 4, 2017.
      9. "ISU GP 2017 Bridgestone Skate America - Pairs". International Skating Union. November 25, 2017.
      10. "China eyed over 9 athletes' ages". ESPN. Associated Press. February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
      11. "Xiaoyu YU / Hao ZHANG: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
      12. AbsoluteSkating [@absoluteskating] (25 March 2018). "#Milano2018 #WorldFigure Exhibition program - music & timing" (Tweet) via Twitter.
      13. "Xiaoyu YU / Hao ZHANG: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
      14. "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
      15. "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
      16. "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014.
      17. "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013.
      18. "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.
      19. "Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010.
      20. "Competition Results: Xiaoyu YU / Hao ZHANG". International Skating Union.
      21. "Competition Results: Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN". International Skating Union.

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