PARIS, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- World champion Nathan Chen of the United States recovered from his below-par short program performance in free skating to claim the men's gold at the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix Figure Skating Internationaux de France in Grenoble on Saturday.
China's Jin Boyang, two-time World Championships bronze medalist, finished ninth among 10 participants after conceding several faults.
Despite finishing third in short program, Chen completed a quadruple flip, quadruple toe and another quad toe in combination with an underrotated triple toe, and picked up a level four for his spins to score a match-best 184.64 points in free skating, bringing his total score to 271.58 points.
"I'm pretty happy with my performance of the long program, definitely more satisfied with the long than with the short," Chen told the ISU website.
"I'm looking forward to continuing to develop the program and develop the technical side of the program," he added.
Chen's compatriot Jason Brown claimed silver with 256.33 points. Russia's Alexander Samarin also stood on the podium with 247.09 points.
Performing to "Hable con ella", Jin reeled off a quadruple Lutz, while displaying an underrotated quad salchow and quad toe. After collecting 129.48 points in free skating, Jin ranked ninth with a total of 208.89 points.
With two titles in hand, Chen joined Japanese stars Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno, Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic, Russian veteran Sergei Voronov and South Korean Cha Jun-hwan in the six-elite Final to be held in Vancouver, Canada from Dec. 6 to 9.
For women's part, Rika Kihira led the Japanese skaters to a one-two finish and claimed her second Grand Prix gold.
Despite a shaky triple Axel at the start, Kihira regrouped herself well to land a double Axel-triple toeloop combination as well as four more clean triples. She collected 138.28 points in free skating and surpassed Mai Mihara with a total of 205.92 points.
Mihara slipped from first to second with 202.81 points. The third place went to Bradie Tennell of the United States, who posted 197.78 points.
The Final is set to witness a fierce head-to-head between Russia and Japan, who shared the six spots apiece.
Olympic champion Alina Zagitova leads teammates Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Sofia Samodurova in the list, while Japan has Rika Kihira, Satoko Miyahara and Kaori Sakamoto.
Following a faulty short program, French pairs Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres had their response to claim their second Grand Prix gold medal this season.
James and Cipres scored 140.53 points in free skating and 205.77 points overall, securing their place in the Final.
The Final also features China's Peng Cheng and Jin Yang, who have finished runners-up twice in previous matches.
Another home duo of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, three-time world champions, scored 132.65 points for their free dance and racked up 216.78 points overall, both as the highest achieved this season in ice dance.
However, Papadakis and Cizeron failed to qualify for the Final as they competed in only one Grand Prix event.
