The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continued Friday with the Short Dance, Pairs Free Skating and Ladies Short Program.
Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN) dance to lead
Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje of Canada danced to the lead in the Short Dance. Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) and Italy’s Anna Cappellin/Luca Lanotte are not far behind in second and third place. All three teams set a new seasons best for themselves.
Dancing to “On the Blue Danube” and “Annenpolka”, Weaver/Poje collected a level four for the Ravensburg Waltz pattern, their curve lift and their twizzles. The partial step sequence was rated a level three. The defending Grand Prix Final Champions received 72.75 points. “We felt great after practice all week. There’s something very familiar and pleasant about being back in Barcelona. The crowd feels like they’re with us every step of the way. There’s always something we could do better. We haven’t seen the levels yet but it’s good to be in this position and we’re looking forward to tomorrow”, Weaver shared.
Chock/Bates’ dance to “More” and “Unchained Melody” featured three-level four elements. The current World silver medalists scored 71.64 points. “The crowd was absolutely amazing, so spirited and lively and we felt the energy while skating. It’s just a pleasure to skate here and we really enjoyed it. There’s obviously still work to be done, levels to be gained but we’re very pleased with how it went”, Chock offered.
Cappellini/Lanotte turned in a strong performance to “The Merry Widow” as well, collecting a level four for four elements. The 2014 World Champions picked up 70.14 points. “We made a little mistake on the twizzles. There was just one twizzle too many. I don’t know why it happened. We were feeling very relaxed throughout the performance. The levels were good but we still feel we can improve. We can go smoother through the compulsory dance and we need more power at the end and during the partial step sequence”, Lanotte analyzed.
Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) are currently ranked fourth at 69.11 points, followed by Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) with 66.21 points and Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) with 65.43 points.
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) win gold
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov of Russia claimed the Pairs Grand Prix Final title. Canada’s Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford took the silver medal and Russia’s Yuko Kavguti/Alexander Smirnov earned the bronze.
Stolbova/Klimov put out a flawless performance of their program titled “The Man and the Shadow”, completing a triple toe-triple toe-double toe combination, triple twist, throw triple Salchow and flip as well as six level-four elements. They posted a new personal best with 154.60 points and racked up 229.44 points. “We are very happy that we finally in this season managed to skate clean and did all the elements for the first time in competition and we are very happy with this medal. We think pair skating is moving forward and more and more couples do quads and now in this competition it was enough to do a clean program with good jumps but in future I think we need to do more high level elements like a quad throw”, Klimov told the post-event press conference.
Duhamel/Radford’s program to “Hometown Glory” by Adele included side by side triple Lutz and throw quadruple Salchow as well as five level-four elements, but she stumbled on the throw triple Lutz. The 2015 World Champions scored 143.93 points, a seasons best and pulled up one spot to second at 216.67 points. “Eric and I are really proud about our performance today. We felt more comfortable with this program and we executed our program much better than the short program and we are proud to have this medal”, Duhamel commented.
Kavaguti/Smirnov had to overcome a rough start into their “Manfred” program when she fell on the triple toe and triple Salchow, but the European Champions recovered to land a throw quadruple Salchow, throw triple loop and difficult lifts. The two-time World bronze medalists received 132.95 points and slipped from second to third at 206.59 points overall. “The second part of the program was excellent. I feel that the audience is excited about our performance too. But I made two major mistakes at the beginning of the program on jumps, so I’m really disappointed”, Kavaguti admitted.
Julianne Seguin/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) came fourth at 200.98 points followed by Xiaoyu Yu/Yang Jin (CHN) with 186.87 points, Cheng Peng/Hao Zhang (CHN) with 183.04 points and Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim (USA) with 177.42 points.
Evgenia Medvedeva skates to the lead in Ladies Short Program
Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia skated to the lead in the Ladies Short Program. Teammate Elena Radionova came second and Japan’s Mao Asada finished third.
Medvedeva hit a triple flip-triple toe, triple loop, double Axel and level-four spins and footwork in her routine set to “Melody of the White Nights” by Isaac Schwartz. The 2015 World Junior Champion set a new personal best of herself with 74.58 points. “Last year I was sat in the same place, in the same room in this press conference as a junior, and now I am here as a senior. I made the step up and that’s a very nice feeling, so I’m happy. I tried to perfect what I do and it has worked, I have started to skate better and more like an adult”, the 16-year-old commented.
Radionova hesitated on her triple Lutz and didn’t do the combination, but added the triple toe to the triple loop later into her program to “Je t’aime”. The 2015 World bronze medalist also got level fours for two spins and the footwork to earn 69.43 points. “I was a bit nervous and so I had to add the toeloop (to the end of the triple loop instead of the Lutz) but I was glad that I fought through it. I felt my foot go down at the end of the Lutz and felt that something was not right, so I knew I had to carry on further. But to do a triple-triple in the second half of the program is a difficult thing and I did it so I am pleased”, the defending ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist said.
Asada opened her playful program to “Bei mir bist du schoen” with a big triple Axel, but then underrotated the triple flip-triple loop combination and singled the Lutz. The three-time World Champion picked up 69.13 points. “I made one major mistake today and I regret that, but overall don’t think my performance was too bad and I hope to do even better tomorrow. This is my comeback season and the Axel has been going quite well. Actually this season I just started to be able to take off from the correct edge on the Lutz, but it’s still not so consistent yet, so I think when I get nervous that shows and becomes my weak point”, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist explained.
Satoko Miyahara (JPN) finished fourth with 68.76 points. Gracie Gold (USA) is currently ranked fifth (66.52 points), and Ashley Wagner (USA) is standing in sixth place with 60.04 points.
Full results are available at www.isu.org. The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final continues Saturday with the Junior Ladies and Junior Pairs Free Skating, Synchronized Skating Free Skating, Free Dance, Ladies and Men Free Skating.