The Rostelecom Cup continued Saturday with the Free Dance, the Ladies, Men’s and Pairs Free Skating. The Rostelecom Cup is the second of six events in the 2009/2010 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The skaters compete for a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and receive points according to their placements. The top six skaters/couples in each discipline advance to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Tokyo, Japan, in December.
Pairs, Free Skating
Qing Pang/Jian Tong of China took the gold in the Pairs event with Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov and Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA) finishing second and third.
Pang/Tong put out a powerful performance to “Impossible Dream” by Joe Hisaishi that was highlighted by a double Axel-double Axel sequence, a high triple twist, a triple throw loop and Salchow. The 2006 World Champions completed difficult lifts and got a level four for their side by side spin and pair combination spin. The only error came when she doubled the side by side toeloop. The reigning Four Continents Champions received 125.93 points (63.05 element score/62.88 program component score) and totaled 191.33 points. “Today’s performance was ok, there some errors, but this is our first competition and so we are still very pleased with what we did today”, commented Tong.
Kavaguti/Smirnov skated to “Sentimental Waltz” by Peter Tchaikovski and the cheerful “On the Blue Danube” Waltz by Johann Strauss. They opened with a throw triple Salchow followed by a triple toe-double toe sequence, but Kavaguti put her hand down on the first jump. There was no further error, and the current World bronze medalists produced a triple twist, throw triple loop and double Axel as well as three level-four lifts to score 118.52 points (59.08/59.44). They remained in second place at 180.14 points.
McLaughlin/Brubaker struggled with some elements – she fell on the triple Salchow and underrotated the double Axel and also missed the throw triple loop, but the U.S. Champions got a level for four for their spins and the spiral sequence and also hit the triple twist. They were ranked fifth in the Free Skating with 99.21 points (49.97/50.24), but held on to third place with 160.55 points.
Ice Dance, Free Dance
Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) cruised to victory in the ice dance event. Italy’s Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte earned the silver medal and the bronze went to Ekaterina Rubleva/Ivan Shefer of Russia.
Davis/White gave an energetic performance of their “Phantom of the Opera” routine that included a straight line-rotational lift with many changes of position and a straight line lift with him skating backwards on one foot while she balanced on his stretched leg. The reigning Four Continents Champions produced smooth footwork that was graded a level three. The lifts and the combination spin as well as the fast twizzles all received a level four from the Technical Panel. Davis/White collected 101.02 points (49.90 element score/ 51.12 program component score) for their Free Dance which added up to 201.10 points overall. The gold medal was an extra present for White, who celebrated his 22nd birthday today. “I think in general we were just a little bit more confident with our program at this point. Obviously it’s still early in the season and we have a long way to go”, Davis told the press. “I think in the last couple of weeks since Oberstdorf (Nebelhorn Trophy) we’ve made some big improvements and we plan on continuing to do so.”
Cappellini/Lanotte chose “Addiction” as their theme to the haunting soundtrack from “Requiem for a Dream”. The Italians completed a level-four combination spin and a straight line lift in a low position with him skating on one foot as well as rotational lift. However, the circular footwork was graded a level two and the diagonal step sequence was a level one. Cappellini/Lanotte scored 83.26 points (41.60/41.66) and took silver with 168.57 points overall.
Rubleva/Shefer gave a soft and fluid performance to the French chanson “Vie d’Amour” that featured a one-armed rotational lift, well synchronized twizzles and a level-three circular step sequence. The Muscovites got a new seasons best of 82.07 points (43.60/38.47) and won their first Grand Prix medal with 163.32 points overall.
Ladies, Free Skating
Miki Ando of Japan claimed the gold in the Ladies competition. Ashley Wagner (USA) surged from fifth to second while Russia’s Alena Leonova moved up from fourth to take the bronze medal.
Ando hit a triple Lutz-double loop combination, a triple loop, Salchow, another triple Lutz, a triple toe-double loop combination and a double Axel in her “Cleopatra” routine. The 2007 World Champion picked up a level four for her flying combination spin and a level three for the other two spins as well as for the straight line step sequence. However, she went down on the back end of the double Axel-triple toeloop combination. The toeloop was downgraded. Ando earned 114.75 points (58.23 element score/57.52 program component score) and pulled up from third to first place. “I’m very happy about my result but not so happy with my skating”, said Ando. “I missed a jump and I didn’t have enough speed again in my long program. But I see what I have to work on for my next competition.”
Wagner turned in a solid performance to “Polovetsian Dances” by Alexander Borodin and landed a triple flip-double toeloop combination, a triple loop, Salchow and triple Lutz, just the second triple flip was cheated and downgraded. The current World Junior bronze medalist scored 108.81 points (54.81/54.00) and took the second Grand Prix medal of her career with 163.97 points. Wagner had won the bronze medal at the Trophée Eric Bompard in 2007.
Leonova earned the first Grand Prix medal of her career with a cheerful performance to “Chicago”. The reigning World Junior Champion fell on her opening triple toeloop that was planned as a triple toe-triple toe combination, but recovered to land a triple Lutz-double toe, a triple Salchow-double toe-double loop and a triple flip-double toe combination, but she doubled the loop and two-footed the solo triple flip. The Russian was awarded a level four for the flying combination spin and a level three for the flying sit and the combination spin. Leonova picked up 103.28 points (50.56/52.72) and moved up from spot with 160.06 points. All three Ladies medalists will compete against each other in two weeks at the NHK Trophy in Japan.
For full results please refer to www.isu.org. An extended version of this report will be available later on the website. The Rostelecom Cup concludes Sunday with the Exhibition Gala. The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues next week with the Cup of China in Beijing.
