Tim Goebel won the Cup of China title Saturday after surging from second place despite falling on a triple jump midway through his routine.

Timothy Goebel of the United States in mid-spin during his performance for the men's short program of the Cup of China in Beijing, China, Friday, Nov 7, 2003. [Reuters]

Ukraine's Elena Liashenko leaped from seventh to win the women's free skate, toppling Japan's Fumie Suguri with strong jumps and spins.

Goebel earned 205.30 points with a confident, energetic performance that offset his stumble. The American, an Olympic bronze medalist, was followed by France's Brian Joubert and China's Li Chengjiang.

Goebel was competing for the first time since pulling out of last month's Skate America after problems with his skates caused him pain during training.

"It wasn't my best skate but ... I was pleased overall with my performance," he said.

He said he is still not comfortable with his equipment and will switch again when he returns home.

Gao Song of China dropped to fourth from first. Scott Smith of the United States was eighth.

Japan's Yoshie Onda took second among the women. Suguri, who nailed all her jumps during Thursday's short program, stumbled during a triple flip.

The United States' Ann Patrice McDonough, second after the short program, also slipped during a jump and finished fourth. Teammate Amber Corwin was sixth.

Liashenko executed five triple jumps and a double axel, earning 102.36 points.

"I never expected to jump from seventh place to first place," Liashenko said. "I have the new judging system to thank."

Figure skating's Grand Prix series is using a new, anonymous, computer-based judging system developed after the Salt Lake City Olympics judging scandal. It replaces the traditional 6.0 scale.

In ice dancing, Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia won with 211.36 points. Ukraine's Elena Grushina and Ruslan Guncharov were the runners-up. France's Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder were third and Americans Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov placed fourth.

The Cup of China replaced the Nations Cup in the Grand Prix series.

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