BEIJING - Canadian Joannie Rochette recovered from a poor short program with a terrific free skate Saturday to finish third in the women's competition at the Cup of China.
The world silver medallist from Ile Dupas, Que., posted a score of 111.06, the second best of the day, to claim the bronze with a total of 163.18.
She was seventh after the short program but still managed to collect her sixth career Grand Prix medal.
"Today everything was better," said Rochette. "I was able to control my breathing and hear the music. I think I showed some character coming back from a disappointing short program but at the same time the alarm bells went off that I need to train even harder.
"It wasn't the beginning I was looking for."
Akiko Suzuki was the surprise winner after posting the best free skate to score 117.14 and collect 176.66 points overall. Kiira Korpi of Finland was second at 163.27, a hair ahead of Rochette.
Diane Szmiett of Watford, Ont., posted a personal best 144.28 points to end up eighth after finishing fourth in the free skate. She was 11th after the short.
"That was the best free skate I've seen from Diane at the international level," said Michael Slipchuk, Skate Canada's high performance director. "That was a big step for her and really builds on her season."
A few other Canadians had good days, too.
In pairs, Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Craig Buntin of Kelowna, B.C., just missed the podium, finishing fourth with 157.60 points. They were fifth after the short program.
The Waterloo, Ont., ice dance duo of Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje climbed from eighth to sixth with the fourth best free dance. Kevin Reynolds of Coquiltam, B.C., was eighth in the men's event.
China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the pairs gold in their first competition since winning the 2007 world title.
The three-time world champions and two-time Olympic bronze medallists finished with 200.97 points, well ahead of compatriots Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao (186.49) and Ukraine's Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov (170.79).
Nobunari Oda of Japan won his second Grand Prix title of the season, edging world champion Evan Lysacek for the men's title.
And Olympic silver medallists Tanith Belbin, who is originally from Kingston, Ont., and Ben Agosto of the United States easily won the dance title.
