Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin sealed back-to-back Grand Prix golds at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) shone again to win gold as the NHK Trophy continued in Osaka (JPN) Saturday with the Pairs Free Skating. The NHK Trophy is the sixth and concluding event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series and is the final opportunity to get into the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN) December 7-10. Italians Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise and Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini earned the silver and bronze medals.
Overnight leaders Hase/Volodin skated last and delivered an excellent performance to “The Path of Silence” and “The Power of Mind”. The Grand Prix Espoo Champions opened with a triple twist and followed up with a triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, throw triple loop and Salchow. They collected a level four for their impressive lifts and the pair combination spin. The only glitch in their performance came when Hase doubled the side by side Salchow. The couple from Berlin improved their personal best once more with 135.28 points for a total of 202.51.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin topped the Free Skate with 135.28 points at NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“We skated much better than in Espoo last week and that’s what we wanted to achieve. We broke the 200 points for the first time,” Hase shared.
“We are really happy to reach the Grand Prix Final. It is a big honor for us as this is only for the best in the world. We want to keep pushing, erase the small levels we missed, and I missed my Salchow, so we want to erase that and prepare the best possible for Beijing.”
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin scored 202.51 at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
Beccari/Guarise turned in a strong performance to “Cats” that was highlighted by a triple twist, triple toe-single Axel-double Axel sequence, a throw triple loop and two level-four lifts. However, he touched down on the triple Salchow and they aborted their Axel Lasso lift. The Skate Canada bronze medalists scored 123.54 points for a total of 190.31 points to remain in second place.
Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise took silver at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“We are very happy for the medal. We did some mistakes in the program, but we are happy especially for the first part of the program. After Skate Canada we worked a lot on the first part,” Beccari commented.
“It was hard, we skated with mistakes,” Guarise admitted.
“But we did very well for our first Grand Prix season and let’s see what will come next.”
Ghilardi/Ambrosini completed a double Axel-double Axel-single Axel sequence, throw triple Lutz and loop as well as difficult lifts in their passionate “Dracula” program. Ghilardi only stumbled on the triple Salchow that was underrotated. The ISU European silver medalists picked up 123.49 points and with a total of 186.47 moved up one spot to take the bronze.
Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini ended NHK Trophy 2023 with bronze in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“We are happy to reach the Grand Prix Final again,” Ghilardi noted. “We stayed in Japan after China and we had an amazing time in Uji, but now we go home and come back to China.
"We need to try to improve a lot on some elements and some levels need to be fixed. We’ll prepare the best we can for the Final.”
Anastasia Golubeva/ Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (AUS) gave a good performance as well and were edged out of the podium by just over a point (185.39 points). Daria Danilova/Michel Tsiba (NED) finished in fifth place (177.54 points).
Full results for NHK Trophy are available here.
Hase/Volodin qualified for the ISU Grand Prix Final with two victories and the maximum of 30 points. Ghilardi/Ambrosini got into the Final with a second and third place (24 points). Beccari/Guarise also ended with 24 points but lose on the tie breaker.
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series consists of six events: Skate America, Skate Canada International, Grand Prix de France, Cup of China, the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN) and NHK Trophy (JPN). Skaters collect points towards to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN).
ISU Grand Prix Standings
The General Announcement of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series is available here on the ISU website. The individual announcements are published on the ISU Event section under each dedicated Grand Prix event (filter with the relevant Event Series).
For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit here.
All Media Accreditations details and deadlines for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series can be found here.
Where to Watch
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed with English commentary on the official ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out Where to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.
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ISU Grand Prix Schedule
The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:
20 - 22 Oct, 2023 Skate America, Allen (Texas, USA)
27 – 29 Oct, 2023 Skate Canada International, Vancouver (CAN)
03 - 05 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix de France, Angers (FRA)
10 - 12 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Cup of China, Chongqing (CHN)
17 - 19 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Espoo, Espoo (FIN)
24 - 26 Nov, 2023 NHK Trophy, Osaka (JPN)
07 - 10 Dec, 2023 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Beijing (CHN)
About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known as the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.
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