The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continued this evening with the Pairs and Men Short Programs. The events feature the top six skaters/couples in each category from the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) claim Pairs Short Program
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov of Russia claimed the Pairs Short Program, edging out teammates Yuko Kavguti/Alexander Smirnov by 1.20 points. Canadians Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford came third.
Stolbova/Klimov’s program to “I Put a Spell on You” included a triple twist, throw triple flip and two level-four elements, but Stolbova wobbled on the side by side triple toe. The Olympic silver medalists scored 74.84 points. “It was all OK today, not perfect, but OK. The scores were pretty good, as there was a mistake we could maybe have got a couple of marks lower. We always want to prove ourselves at every competition, of course we are always a bit nervous because we want to do our best”, Klimov said.
Performing to “I Finally Found Someone”, Kavaguti/Smirnov landed a side by side triple toe, triple twist, throw triple loop and picked up a level four for three elements. The European Champions earned 73.64 points. “I could enjoy skating today. I’m very happy that we got the level 4 for the death spiral. It took several years to achieve this level. It is our least favorite element”, Kavaguti commented.
Duhamel/Radford completed a triple twist, a side by side triple Lutz and got a level four for four elements, but she fell on the throw triple Lutz. The reigning World Champions received 72.74 points. “Clearly this wasn’t our best skate but taking away the throw, I think it was the strongest skate overall we’ve done this season. It was the first time we were on time with the footwork! The fall on the throw was a complete fluke for us, it’s never happened before and I doubt it’s going to happen again, and I’m sure we’ll do it well tomorrow”, Duhamel offered.
Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) rank fourth at 71.16 points followed by Xiaoyu Yu/Yang Jin (CHN) with 68.63 points, Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim (USA) with 68.14 points and Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang (CHN) with 65.60 points.
Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) skates to strong lead in Men’s Short Program
Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan skated to a strong lead in the Men’s Short Program. Spain’s Javier Fernandez is sitting in second place and Boyang Jin of China placed third.
Skating to “Ballade No. 1” by Frederic Chopin, Hanyu reeled off a quadruple Salchow, quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop, a triple Axel and collected a level four for the three spins and a level three for the footwork. The Olympic Champion set a new highest score and personal best for himself with 110.95 points, surpassing his own best score from NHK Trophy last month. “I’m satisfied with the program. I’m surprised too. I don’t care about the score alone, but this huge score makes me happy at the same time. I was so nervous but I was using that nervousness in a positive way. I am a little bit upset about my step sequence, though”, the 21-year-old commented.
Fernandez stumbled on his opening quadruple Salchow but landed a triple Lutz-double toe, a triple Axel and earned a level four for his footwork and the three spins. The 2015 World Champion scored 91.52 points. “It was a great experience. The audience was excited from the beginning to the end. That was important to them and for me. I made mistakes. I want to try to get the gold medal that I didn’t get last year, but I know it’s going to be hard. Yuzuru has way more points than anybody else, but I’ll try”, the three-time European Champion noted.
Jin went for a quadruple Lutz-triple toe, but put his hand down on the Lutz and underrotated the toe. The triple Axel was good, but then he two-footed the quad toeloop. The World Junior silver medalist was awarded 86.95 points. “I’m not so satisfied, because I have three jumping passes in my program and I made mistakes on two of them. Compared to last year I’ve moved up to the senior level and I improved in the performance aspect and my jumps are more consistent”, the 18-year-old explained.
Shoma Uno (JPN) finished fourth at 86.47 points. Daisuke Murakami (JPN) came fifth (83.47 points) and Patrick Chan (CAN) is currently ranked sixth. He repeated the triple toe and got no credit for his combination nor for his change foot camel spin (70.61 points).
Full results are available at www.isu.org. The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final continues Friday with the Junior Free Dance, Junior Men’s Free Skating, Short Dance, Pairs & Ladies Free Skating.