Gold medalist Javier Fernandez (C) of Spain, silver medalist Yuzuru Hanyu (L) of Japan and bronze medalist Denis Ten of Kazakhstan pose during the awarding ceremony for Men in ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015 at Crown Indoor Stadium, Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China on March 28, 2015. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese netizens show their sympathy to Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu after he won the silver medal at the Grand Prix Final in Italy on Saturday, his 25-year-old birthday.

Hanyu scored 291.43 points after having some difficulties with his quadruple toe loop and a triple toe loop, while US figure skater Nathan Chen won the champion with the score of 335.3 points.

The hashtag #FeelSorryforYuzuruHanyu has earned 290 million views on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo as of Sunday.

"He has turned 25, so does not have an age advantage as a figure skater. But he has the courage to challenge the five quads even though he suffers from asthma. We are proud of Hanyu," one Chinese netizen commented on Sina Weibo. 

"Chen indeed performed well but it is unfair that the gap in their scores is so big. We hope that Hanyu can get the score he deserves. He only had a little more than a week to prepare himself since he just participated in a match in Japan. Life is hard for him," another netizen said.