Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (RUS) 2018 © International Skating Union (ISU)
Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov of Russia gave a stylish performance in the Pairs Short Program to take the lead as the Rostelecom Cup continued Friday in Moscow. Italy’s Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise came second and young Russians Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin are currently ranked third.
Tarasova/Morozov opened their routine to “I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown with a high triple twist and followed up with a side by side triple toe and a throw triple loop. The 2018 World silver medalists collected a level four for their twist, death spiral, lift and side by side spin to post a new season’s best of 78.47 points.
“We did a good job tonight, all our elements had a good level. Even though it wasn’t our maximum yet, we’re on the right path,” Morozov said.
Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise (ITA) 2018 © International Skating Union (ISU)
Della Monica/Guarise turned in a solid performance to “Never Tear Us Apart“, completing a triple Salchow, triple twist, a throw triple loop and level-four lift. The Italian Champions set a new season’s best with 72.32 points.
“We are very happy, we skated clean. We missed some levels here and there, but we’re working on them and hopefully in our next competition we’ll get all level four,” Della Monica said.
Skating to the romantic piece “When Winter Comes”, Pavliuchenko/Khodykin produced a triple twist, triple toeloop and a level-four lift, spin and footwork. She only had to fight for the landing of the throw triple flip. The 2018 World Junior Champions scored 69.38 points.
“We’re pleased with our performance today, but there is always something to improve. We’ll look at that later, now we’ll focus on the free skating,” Khodykin noted.
Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS) 2018 © International Skating Union (ISU)
Skate America silver medalists Alisa Efimova/Alexander Korovin (RUS) placed fourth on 65.46 points while Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer (AUT) came fifth (63.75 points). Skate America bronze medalists Ashley Cain/Timothy LeDuc (USA) made an uncharacteristic error when they missed the take-off for their throw jump and finished in seventh place on 58.79 points.
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