Trophée Eric Bompard opened in Bordeaux, France with the Pairs, Ladies and Men’s Short Programs and the Short Dance. Trophee Bompard is the fifth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Several skaters have the chance to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Barcelona (ESP).
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) take Pairs Short Program
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov of Russia took the Pairs Short Program. China’s Wenjing Sui/Cong Han and Xuehan Wang/Lei Wang follow in second and third place.
Skating to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “House of Flying Daggers”, Stolbova/Klimov produced a triple toe, triple twist and throw triple flip as well as three level-four elements. The Olympic silver medalists set a new seasons best with 71.20 points for themselves. “We wanted to skate clean here. Maybe we didn’t have so much speed and didn’t get the highest GOE (Grad of Execution) for all elements, but we skated clean and that’s the point. Next time we’ll be more confident”, Klimov noted.
Sui/Han’s routine to “Stray Cats Strut” featured a triple twist, throw triple flip and side by side triple toes. The Four Continents Champions picked up 67.27 points, a new seasons best. “We got a seasons best and we skated well today. Hopefully we’ll be able to skate up to our level in the free skating and can improve our score”, Sui said.
Wang/Wang completed a triple toe, throw triple loop and triple twist to earn a personal best of 63.25 points. “We are satisfied with all our elements and it was a better performance than at the Cup of China”, Xuehang Wang, who is not related to her partner, pointed out.
Alexa Scimeca/Chris Knierim (USA) placed fourth with 59.04 points and Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres (FRA) are currently ranked fifth (54.20 points).
Elena Radionova (RUS) captures Ladies Short Program
Russia’s Elena Radionova edged out teammate Julia Lipnitskaia for a narrow lead in the Ladies Short Program. Ashley Wagner (USA) finished third.
Radionova’s Flamenco program was highlighted by triple Lutz-triple toe combination, triple loop and difficult spins. The two-time World Junior Champion posted a new seasons best with 67.28 points. “At Skate America I was very nervous before the short program, but now I was very calm and I knew that I would do everything and I completed my job. Everything was calm and clean and as it seems to me it was the best performance of the season”, the 15-year-old told the press.
Lipnitskaia produced a triple toe-triple toe combination, triple flip and fast level-four spins in her program to “Megapolis”. The World silver medalist earned 66.79 points. “I felt much calmer than at Cup of China and I also trained in a calmer way and I wasn’t as shaky in the warm up. Now I just want to go out as calmly for the free skating”, the 16-year-old commented.
Wagner went for a triple flip-triple toe combination in her program to “Spartacus”, but underrotated the second jump as well as the solo triple loop. She scored 61.35 points. “This performance I actually was very, very happy with, even though it scored less than Skate Canada. I’ve been focusing on the technical side of my program and I went out there and completed the triple flip-triple toe without two-footing it which is a huge deal for me”, the 2012 Four Continents Champion said.
Maria Artiemeva (RUS) came in fourth with 58.38 points followed by Mae-Bérénice Meité (FRA) with 57.61 points and Courtney Hicks (USA) with 55.70 points.
Denis Ten (KAZ) wins Men’s Short Program
Denis Ten of Kazakhstan won the Men’s Short Program. Japan’s Tatsuki Machida placed second and Konstantin Menshov of Russia came in third.
Ten’s program to “Caruso” included a quadruple toeloop, triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination as well as two level-four spins and level-four footwork. The Olympic bronze medalist earned a seasons best of 91.78 points. “I felt quite happy about the progress we could make after Skate America. I felt strong in the performance and I am glad that I kind of proved myself that I sometimes can start the season a bit faster than I usually do. But this is not the end of the competition or the end of the season. So I’ll try to keep improving and I’ll try to do as well tomorrow”, the 21-year-old said.
Performing to “Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra” by Nigel Hess and Joshua Bell, Machida completed a quadruple-triple toeloop combination and triple Axel, but he put his hand down on the triple Lutz, the last element in the program. The World silver medalist was awarded 88.70 points.
“I was tired after my steps, therefore the mistake happened”, explained Machida. “Hopefully I’ll do better tomorrow. I am confident for my free skating and I will push myself”, he added.
Menshov completed a quad-triple toe combination, quad Salchow and triple Axel in his routine to “Rotting Romance” to achieve a new personal best with 87.47 points. “This was the third competition where I did two quads. In Canada it worked, too, but I didn’t do the triple Axel. Now the most important thing is not to relax, in Canada I lost my concentration for the free skating. I’m trying to keep my focus now”, the 31-year-old from St. Petersburg noted.
Richard Dornbush (USA) is currently ranked fourth (80.24 points). Chafik Besseghier (FRA) finished fifth (78.22 points) and Maxim Kovtun (RUS) was sixth (77.11 points).
Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) dance to lead
Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France danced to the lead in the Short Dance. Canadians Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier finished second ahead of Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA).
Papadakis/Cizeron delivered a strong Flamenco and Paso Doble, completing a level-three Paso Doble Pattern as well as level three footwork and a level-four straight line lift. The 2013 World Junior silver medalists set a new personal best of 64.08 points for themselves. “It was a very good performance today, but still with some errors. We are still satisfied with ourselves. We were able to trust our training and we are quite ready although we only had a few days to prepare after China”, Cizeron told the press.
Gilles/Poirier’s dance to Paso Doble and Spanish Waltz was highlighted by a level-four Paso Doble sequence and fast level-four twizzles. The Four Continents silver medalists scored 61.90 points, a seasons best score. “It wasn’t a perfect performance, I think we’ve done some stronger ones in practice, but the important thing for us coming into this event was being able to deliver a short dance with no major errors, which is a nice step for us”, Poirier commented.
Hubbell/Donohue picked up a level four for the twizzles and the rotational lift in their Flamenco and Paso Doble program while the two Paso Doble parts merited a level three. The Four Continents Champions posted a seasons best with 60.19 points as well. “I think it was a little bit better in some ways today (compared to Skate Canada). We were able to bring our level twos to level threes in the Paso, but we did make some errors in the footwork”, Hubbell said.
Sara Hurtado/Adria Diaz (ESP) are ranked fourth with 57.64 points and Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) finished fifth (56.57 points).
For full entry lists and results of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2014/15 please refer to www.isu.org/en/single-and-pair-skating-and-ice-dance/series/isu-grand-prix-of-figure-skating. Trophee Bompard continues Saturday with the Ladies, Pairs, Men’s Free Skating and Free Dance.