|
Post by Admin on Nov 24, 2019 2:34:12 GMT
LIVE | Exhibition Gala | NHK Trophy 2019 | #GPFigure
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Nov 24, 2019 21:37:58 GMT
Alena Kostornaia dug deep to complete victory at the NHK Trophy in Sapporo on Saturday. The 16-year-old fell in the warm-up, and had to watch strong skates from her nearest rivals Alina Zagitova and Rika Kihira, before taking to the ice. But she responded to the pressure and, apart from an error on a second triple Axel, skated superbly to win the free skate and make it two wins out of two in her first senior Grand Prix of Figure Skating season. Kostornaia told ISU.org afterwards, "I am very happy to have performed a good program. There were mistakes, but overall it was still good. "I’m pleased to have achieved a record score in the short program, and I would like to set records also in the free skating and total score." Kostornaia's triumph means all six Grand Prix events have gone to Russian first-season seniors trained by Eteri Tutberidze as Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova also won both their respective assignments. Kihira and Zagitova both had season's best free skates to fill the podium spots and qualify for next month's Grand Prix Final with Bradie Tennell of the United States completing the six-woman line-up in Turin.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Nov 25, 2019 7:05:35 GMT
More records for Papadakis and Cizeron While Yuzuru Hanyu's men's singles victory was the undoubted highlight for the locals, the performance of the day came from ice dance world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron who ended up rewriting the record books three times in Sapporo. After their home triumph at the Internationaux de France in Grenoble, the Olympic silver medallists just seem to get better and better. Following their world record rhythm dance on Friday, the French duo set another world record in the free dance with a score of 136.58, beating their 135.82 from this year's World Team Trophy. Their total of 226.61 was over three points better than the 223.13 they achieved at the World Team Trophy. It is hard to see anyone getting close to them in the Grand Prix Final which they missed last year after Cizeron's early-season back injury ruled them out of the NHK Trophy. Russia's Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin will also be in Turin after finishing second ahead of Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy. Ice Dance Grand Prix Finalists: Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA), Stepanova/Bukin (RUS), Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS), Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN), Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA), Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA).
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Nov 26, 2019 6:40:06 GMT
After her second in the short program, Rika Kihira had another good day in the free skate as she put up a strong defence of the title she claimed in 2018. The Japanese again chose not to unveil her quad Salchow, but her trademark triple Axel was in fine working order and she just beat Zagitova's free skate score with 151.95 for a season's best total of 231.84. The home crowd was delighted with her performance as she booked a return to the Grand Prix Final which she won last year. Kihira admitted there were "small mistakes", but told ISU.org she was happy she "could do something that was close to my personal best." She added, "It was a tough competition and I believe the Grand Prix Final will be even tougher." Then came Kostornaia, who set a world record in Friday's short program. Despite a fall in the warm-up, she started with a spectacular triple Axel-double toe loop combination before under-rotating her second triple Axel. That lapse did not seem to affect her. A triple flip-triple toe loop combo was the highlight in a routine high on artistry and elegance. It resulted in a score of 154.96 to take a free skate and a total of 240.00 for victory by just over eight points Having backed up her victory at the Internationaux de France on her senior Grand Prix debut, it looks like Kostornaia will be battling with her two training partners for top spot on the podium in Turin. Earlier, Yuhana Yokoi gave the home crowd reason for cheer with a season's best free skate of 126.87 which took her into the lead from reigning European champion Sofia Samodurova. She eventually finished fourth ahead of fellow Japanese Mako Yamashita with Samodurova down in sixth. American Karen Chen slipped from third overnight to ninth after a couple of falls in her free skate.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Nov 27, 2019 2:55:18 GMT
Figure skaters qualified for next week’s Grand Prix Final, the second-biggest competition of the season outside of March’s world championships … Men 1. Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) 2. Nathan Chen (USA) 3. Alexander Samarin (RUS) 4. Dmitriy Aliyev (RUS) 5. Kevin Aymoz (FRA) 6. Jin Boyang (CHN) Women 1. Alena Kostornaia (RUS) 2. Alexandra Trusova (RUS) 3. Anna Shcherbakova (RUS) 4. Rika Kihira (JPN) 5. Alina Zagitova (RUS) 6. Bradie Tennell (USA) Pairs 1. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (CHN) 2. Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitriy Kozlovskiy (RUS) 3. Peng Cheng/Jin Yang (CHN) 4. Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov (RUS) 5. Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro (CAN) 6. Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS) Ice Dance 1. Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) 2. Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) 3. Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) 4. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) 5. Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (RUS) 6. Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) As a reminder, you can watch the events from the 2019-20 figure skating season live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. Go to NBCsports.com/gold/figure-skating to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season. NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.
|
|