ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Cup of China Day Two
The Cup of China in Harbin went on Friday with the Original
Dance, the Men’s Short Program and the Pairs Free Skating.
Harbin hosts the Cup of China for the first time. The Cup
of China is the second of six events in the ISU Grand Prix
of Figure Skating series. The skaters compete for a 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 then qualify
for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Torino,
Italy (December 13-16).
Ice Dancing, Original Dance
Today’s competition kicked off with the Original Dance.
The Original Dance for the 2007/08 season is the Folk/Country
Dance. The skaters at the Cup of China chose Russian, Ukrainian,
Scottish, Italian, Middle Eastern, Western and Hindi dances.
Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin of Russia strengthened their
lead after the Compulsory Dance ahead of Tanith Belbin/Benjamin
Agosto (USA) and Italy’s Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali.
Domnina/Shabalin put out a powerful Cossack Dance that was
highlighted by a well synchronized side by side midline step
sequence, a straight line lift with him in a shoot-the-duck
position and level-three circular step sequence and a one-armed
rotational lift. The European silver medalists earned 62.20
points (32.30 element score/29.90) and have racked up 100.97
points so far. “Emotionally it was a strong performance,
technically it still could have been better”, Domnina
pointed out.
Belbin/Agosto completed a curve and a rotational lift with
changes of positions, an intricate non-touching midline step
sequence and a difficult dance spin in their entertaining
“Appalachean Hoedown” and “Country Waltz”
program. They effectively used a hat that added to the character
of the dance. Like the Russian couple, the World bronze medalists
were awarded a level four for all elements except for the
circular steps that were graded a level three. The Americans
picked up 60.81 points (31.90/28.91), setting a new seasonal
best for themselves. So far they have accumulated 96.70 points.
Faiella/Scali’s characteristic Italian “Pizzica”
dance included a one-armed rotational lift, intricate footwork
as well as a curve lift and a dance spin with changes of positions.
The Skate America bronze medalists scored 56.94 points (30.60/26.34),
improving their seasonal best and remained in third place
at 90.48 points.
Men, Short Program
Evan Lysacek (USA) edged teammate Johnny Weir by less than
two points to take the lead in the Men’s Short Program.
Stéphane Lambiel of Switzerland came in third.
Performing to “The Legend of Zorro” and dressed
all in black, Lysacek landed a triple Axel, triple Lutz and
quadruple-triple toeloop combination, but put his hand down
on the quad. The two-time World bronze medalist was awarded
a level three for both his step sequences and a level four
for two of his spins. Lysacek got 81.55 points (44.90 element
score/36.65 program component score), significantly improving
his previous personal best of 73.49 points. “It felt
much stronger today than at my first Grand Prix Skate America.
It’s a good sign that I’m taking positive steps
forward towards the later part of the season”, the 22-year-old
US Champion commented.
Weir is not far behind the leader with 79.80 points (44.00/35.80).
He delivered a strong performance of his program to “Yunona
and Avos”, completing a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination,
a high triple Axedl, a triple flip as well as two level-four
spins.
Lambiel opened his program to an expressive Tango, “Carne
Cruda”, with a double Axel but then took a hard fall
on his quadruple toeloop. He recovered to execute a triple
Lutz and fast spins and precise steps, earning a level three
for the circular footwork. The two-time World Champion scored
70.20 points (34.00/37.20).
Pairs, Free Skating
The first medals were awarded in the Pairs event. Qing Pang/Jian
Tong of China skated to the gold and qualified for the Grand
Prix Final. Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA) claimed
the silver in what was their first senior Grand Prix event.
The bronze went to Canada’s Jessica Miller/ Ian Moram,
who stood for the first time on the podium at a Grand Prix
event.
Pang/Tong produced a big triple twist, a throw triple Salchow
and loop as well as strong lifts in their routine set to “Romeo
and Juliet” by Nino Rota, but they struggled with the
solo jumps. Tong underrotated the triple toe and stepped out
of it and the jump was downgraded. He also singled the second
jump in the side by side double Axel-double Axel sequence.
The 2006 World Champions earned 111.27 points (55.59 element
score/55.58), thus improving their seasonal best and racked
up a total of 176.75 points. “This was as mediocre performance.
We’ve made a lot of changes to our free program since
Skate America, and we still don’t feel so comfortable
with the program”, Pang told the post-event press conference.
McLaughlin/Brubaker also had chosen “Romeo and Juliet”
as their theme, but they picked the classical ballet version
by Sergei Prokofiev. The reigning World Junior Champions opened
their dynamic program with a high triple twist, but then had
to overcome a few errors. She fell on the throw triple Salchow
(which was downgraded) and he aborted the following lift prematurely.
They also missed the side by side triple Salchow – she
fell, while he stumbled. The team showed a solid double Axel
and two difficult Lasso lifts that both were graded a level
four. The Americans also received a level four for both spins
and collected 95.44 points (49.52/47.92) which added up to
154.66 overall.
Miller/Moram risked the quad throw Salchow and he fell on
both solo jumps, but they completed a double twist, a throw
triple loop and two level-four lifts. The Canadians scored
86.84 points (46.72/43.12) and defended their third place
with a total of 137.30 points.
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