ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Cup of China
Day Three
The competition at the Cup of China in Harbin concluded Saturday
with the Free Dance, the Ladies and Men’s 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).
Ladies, Free Skating
The Ladies opened today’s competition with the Free
Skating. Yu-Na Kim of Korea claimed the gold medal. Caroline
Zhang (USA) took the silver and the bronze went to Italy’s
Carolina Kostner.
Kim, who stood in third place following the Short Program,
put out a strong performance to “Miss Saigon”
that featured a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a
triple loop, triple Lutz-double toeloop-double loop, a double
Axel-triple toe, a triple Salchow and a double Axel as well
as strong spins. Three spins were graded a level three and
the flying combination spin was graded a level four. The only
glitch came when the World bronze medalist singled her second
Lutz. Kim scored 122.36 points (65.56 element score/56.80
program component score) and pulled up to first at 180.68
points.
Performing to “Ave Maria”, Zhang landed a triple
flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Lutz-double toeloop
as well as two double Axels and a triple loop-double toe-double
loop combination. However, she fell on a triple flip and a
triple Lutz. The 14-year-old impressed the audience with her
excellent spins, especially her layback variation she calls
“pearl spin”. Zhang collected a new seasonal best
of 97.58 points (51.34/48.24) to move up to second place at
156.34 total points.
Kostner, who led after the Short Program, stepped out of
her opening triple flip and when she still added a toeloop,
she fell on it. The rough start seemed to throw her off, and
she doubled her Lutz. Kostner later completed a triple loop
and Salchow, but she fell again on a triple toe (in combination
with double Axel). The European Champion received 83.04 points
(33.68/51.36) for her routine to “Dumsky Trio”
by Antonin Dvorak and was ranked fourth in the Free Skating
but finished third overall with 143.86 points.
Ice Dancing, Free Dance
Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) overtook overnight leaders
Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin of Russia to capture the Ice
Dancing gold. Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali of Italy earned
the bronze medal.
Dancing to a medley of music by Frederic Chopin, Belbin/Agosto
completed difficult lifts including a serpentine lift with
changes of positions for both partners, intricate steps and
a dance spin. They maintained good flow throughout their performance
and were awarded a level four for all eight elements. The
2006 Olympic silver medalists picked up 98.41 points (51.90
element score/46.51), setting a new seasonal best for themselves.
Overall they racked up 195.11 points and moved up from second
to first to claim their second Grand Prix gold medal this
season. “Whatever result came through, most importantly
we were very pleased with the progress that our free dance
has made in just one week at home between our first Grand
Prix, Skate America, and now this one. I think that this free
dance has a lot of potential hopefully now we can raise the
original dance and compulsory dances to match it. But hopefully
we’ll have many more performances like this”,
Belbin told the press.
Domnina/Shabalin started well into their dramatic “Waltz
Masquerade” with well synchronized twizzles, the midline
steps and two lifts, but then they made a costly error. Shabalin
lifted his partner accidentally in the spin, and the end of
the spin thus became a stationary lift (level one). As a result,
their last reverse-rotational lift didn’t count as they
already had completed four lifts, and the Russian got a deduction
of one point for an extra element. The European silver medalists
scored 87.69 points (41.40/47.29) and were ranked third in
the Free Dance. Overall they slipped to second at 188.66 points.
Faiella/Scali turned in a romantic Free Dance to the soundtrack
of “Yentl” that included one-armed rotational
lift, a straight line-rotational lift with changes of position,
a dance spin and smooth steps. The Technical Panel graded
their midline step sequence and five other elements a level
four. The Italian couple got 90.62 points (47.80/42.82), which
is a new seasonal best. They were second in the Free Dance
and remained in third at 181.10 points.
Men, Free Skating
The competition concluded with the Mens’ Free Skating.
Johnny Weir (USA) skated to victory with teammate Evan Lysacek
coming in second. Stéphane Lambiel of Switzerland clinched
the bronze medal.
Weir, who stood in second place following the Short Program,
reeled off a triple Axel-triple toe, another triple Axel,
a triple Lutz, triple Salchow, triple loop, triple Lutz-double
toe and a triple flip in his program to “Love is War”
by Yoav Gordon. The three-time U.S. Champion also showed good
spins, two of which were graded a level four and the other
two were graded a level three. The 23-year-old scored 151.98
points (76.38 element score/75.60 program component score),
improving his previous personal best of 146.20 points that
he had set three years ago. Weir racked up a total score of
231.78 points. “I was very excited with my performance
today. It is the first time in a long time that I felt really
comfortable on the ice and I think it’s due to a new
training regimen and just harder work in general and I am
so happy it’s paying off with good performances. I am
just so happy to be back on top”, the delighted skater
commented.
Overnight leader Lysacek had to overcome a rough start into
his powerful “Tosca” routine when he fell on his
opening quadruple toeloop. The following triple Axel was shaky
and underrotated. The U.S. Champion recovered to produce seven
more triples including a triple Axel-triple toe and a triple
flip-triple toe as well as fast, well centered spins. He earned
a level four for all four spins and was awarded 147.81 points
(74.71/74.10) for this performance. Lysacek dropped to second
at 229.36 points.
Lambiel struggled with some jumps in his “Poeta”
Flamenco routine, falling on both quadruple toeloops and a
triple flip. He hit a triple loop-double toe, triple Lutz
and Salchow, but his first triple loop was two-footed. The
Swiss showed strong spins, getting a level four for both combination
spins. The two-time World Champion collected 122.02 points
(53.22/71.80), which added up to 192.22 points and remained
in third place overall.
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