After spending a difficult year trying to adjust to the senior circuit, Song Nan has regained his status as one of China's top male figure skaters, Tang Zhe reports from Changchun, Jilin province.

Now recovered after a gloomy transitional year, Chinese skater Song Nan says he's whittled his opponents down to one: himself.

The 21-year-old was regarded as China's best hope to regain its standing in men's figure skating after his impressive finish in the ISU Junior Grand Prix tournament during the 2009-10 season. He won two Grand Prix medals, a silver and a gold, to qualify for the 2009-10 Junior Grand Prix Final, and finished second in both the Final and the 2010 Junior Worlds.

Song turned senior for the 2010-11 season, and the good news stopped coming for a while.

Other than a bronze medal at the 2011 Asian Winter Games, he came up dry in international events, and ranked 22nd at Worlds.

"There must have been some changes between junior and senior matches, but I hadn't expected (such a big gap), and it hurt my confidence," Song told Chinese media in the middle of it all.

Then came two brilliant performances that earned him a bronze and a silver in last year's senior Grand Prix competitions, results Song said helped him grow more confident and mature.

"I'm not arrogant, but I feel if I can give play to my real ability, my opponent is myself," said Song, who is in Changchun for the 12th National Winter Games. "There are a lot of expectations for me from outside to win the championship, but I pay more attention to myself instead of the outside. If I can conquer myself, I will receive satisfying results in matches."

Song slipped to second behind another national skater, Yan Han, in the free skate exhibition in Changchun, but rebounded to the top in the short program one day later.

"The National Games are very important and my confidence was not very stable at the beginning of the tournament. For the public, the more they expect, they more you will disappoint them," Song said. "For myself, I will transfer people's expectations into my motivation to perform well in each event, and my only pressure comes from the importance of the tournament."

Song praised 15-year-old Yan - his most competitive rival - as a comprehensively talented skater, but said he'll do his best to beat him.

"We are competitors on the ice, and I will undoubtedly compete with him with my full efforts and ability," said Song, who started skating at six, but made his international debut at 17, which is relatively late. "I am among the country's top three at the moment, but there are a lot of young skaters rising up. I am just temporarily taking the lead for China."

Song said he doesn't expect to surpass predecessor Li Chengjiang, who placed fourth at the 2004 World Championship, China's best result in men's singles.

"Though the fans and spectators like to compare (me to Li), I haven't though much about it," said Song, who will begin preparing for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics this year. "I just hope I can become better and better - whether I can surpass him still requires me to work hard step by step."