Radionova victory and three more bronze medals for Russia. Kolyada's golden ambitions, Zagitova's victory and the world record in dancing: the Grand Prix stage in figure skating took place in China Grand Prix of China year of figure skating
In China, the third stage of the Grand Prix series of figure skating. The Russians won in two disciplines. Mikhail Kolyada took first place in the men's skating, showing one of the best short programs in history and scoring 100 points, while Alina Zagitova won her first tournament of this level. Bronze medals were won by Elena Radionova and dancers Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov.
- Mikhail Kolyada (center) during the award ceremony. The second place was taken by the Chinese Boyang Jin and the third place by Max Aaron from the USA
- Reuters
- Damir Sagolj
Men
Russian male single skating finally gives you a reason to be proud. Mikhail Kolyada won the Grand Prix in China, scoring his first victory at a competition of this level. But it is not the mere fact that the athlete has risen to first place that causes admiration here. Just this is not so significant, because of the elite rivals, he had only the owner of the competition, Jin Boyang. It is more important to consider how the Russian skater got his victory and what prospects it can give.
At the first stage in Moscow, Kolyada became the third with 271.06 points. Numerous falls in both programs did not prevent getting such serious marks. The 22-year-old skater has little left to do: cleanly execute all his jumps, and then you can already talk about real competition with Nathan Chen and Javier Fernandez (Yuzuru Hanyu still remains in his league). Already at the next starts in Beijing, Kolyada experimentally confirmed this hypothesis.
The short program of Kolyada became the main event of the first day of the competition. He performed a long-suffering quadruple lutz, scored even more points for a combination of two sheepskin coats, and for dessert he saved a triple axel in the second half of the rental. The Russian performed all the other elements as well as he can, and as a result, a score of 103.13 points was lit opposite his name - this is the fourth result in the history of figure skating. Only Hania, Fernandez and Shoma Uno recruited more. Kolyada became the first Russian who managed to cross the 100-point mark. Even Evgeni Plushenko could not do it.
It is clear that for a short program you can only get a small medal, and even then not at all competitions, but still this is a very pleasant message that inspires optimism. In the free program, Kolyada took a step back: he failed to perform the quadruple lutz again, the salchow and axel were reduced by two turns, the cascade of two sheepskin coats was pushed to the back shelf. But again, the potential of Kolyada was visible and reflected in a solid 176.25 points. The total score of 279.38 points did not allow him to break his personal record, but showed that Kolyada continues to go the right way, and at the same time brought him victory at the Grand Prix stage and almost guaranteed access to the final competition.
Kolyada's performance this season creates an amazing paradox: he has more chances to become an Olympic champion than to take second or third in Pyeongchang. A medal of the highest dignity can be provided to him by a team tournament. According to all preliminary layouts, it turns out that Russia will fight for first place with Canada and will prevail. And Kolyada will be able to count on silver and bronze if he successfully performs in personal competitions. To do this, you need to skillfully perform both rentals, for which the athlete is not yet ready. There are no such tough conditions in the team tournament, and Kolyada just needs to get the better of Patrick Chan. Now no one can doubt the fact that the Russian is stronger than the three-time world champion.
Women
The intrigue in women's competitions famously spun following the results of the short program. It was won by the current World Championship bronze medalist Gabrielle Daleman from Canada, and three girls were behind in one and a half points - Wakaba Higuchi, Elena Radionova and Alina Zagitova. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva was not far behind. The dispute between them on the second day was to flare up with renewed vigor.
For Zagitova, this was the best option to successfully perform at her first Grand Prix. It is no secret that she is strong precisely in her super-complex free program, in which she periodically scores even more points than Evgenia Medvedev. On the second attempt, the 15-year-old figure skater managed to perform her signature combination of triple lutz - triple rittberger and crush all rivals with one of them. Questions were raised only by a single lutz, where the judges noticed underrotation. Zagitova failed to break personal records, but this is not so important: everyone has long known her capabilities. The ward of Eteri Tutberidze scored 213.88 points and set a high benchmark for the remaining three skaters.
Elena Radionova is gradually returning to its former level - her claims to third place in the Russian team are becoming louder. She skated her free program without serious complaints, and only one cascade went negative relative to the nominal value. According to the basic cost of the elements, Radionova lost only one and a half points to Zagitova, but so far she cannot count on such serious allowances as the young competitor. Nevertheless, a student of Elena Buyanova scored 136.34 points for the second rental and 206.82 points in total. Until recently, such assessments seemed to her a pipe dream, but now they can open the doors to the national team.
The hope of all Japan, Wakaba Higuchi, was even more successful and overtook Radionova by six points. The 16-year-old girl again performed at a very solid level, which she demonstrated at the pre-season tournaments - she may well be the first in line for a serious starts medal. Higuchi's problem is only that she has reached her limit, and new horizons will open only if she starts shuffling cascades.
Daleman had the last word on the stage in China. The Canadian did not manage to perform at the level of Zagitova or at least Radionova Canadian: twice she broke the jumps and did not impress the judges with her artistry. She fell back to sixth place, winning only 0.15 points from Tuktamysheva, who took the risk of jumping the triple Axel, but did not get much benefit from it. Zagitova won her first Grand Prix, and now the athlete can count on a duel with Medvedeva in the December final.
Couples
Chinese couples did not show what they learned over the summer for a long time. Finally, an exhibition of their achievements took place in Beijing. The fact that something grandiose is planned became clear during the short program. Current champions world Sui Wenjing and Han Cong left the best of last year and the first this season broke through the milestone of 80 points.
The Chinese demonstrated their rich technical arsenal on the second day as well. They performed even better than at the World Forum in Helsinki. If then there was a fall on the triple salchow, now we managed to do without it. Sui and Han broke a personal best in free skating (150.93) and confirmed that they are number one in the world at this moment(231.07). Nobody can fight them now. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who won the stage in Moscow, then scored seven points less.
Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao could also be a danger to the rest of the world. An experienced couple, in which the partner won silver at the Olympics in Turin, scored 205.54 points on the basis of two rentals. This, for example, is more than Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov showed this season.
Dancing on Ice
Dancers Gabriela Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron made a splash in their discipline. All last season they were trying to catch up with Tessa Virtu and Scott Moir, who updated world records. The French finally prepared a decent answer for them: they were the first to score more than 200 points on the sum of two ratings. While it seems to many that dancing has reached its peak and it is simply impossible to conquer new heights mathematically, Papadakis and Sizeron still squeeze out some hundredths of points, which eventually allow you to rewrite records.
It is impossible to stop Russian girls. The Asian trip of Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva went almost perfectly. Both skaters, who were skidding at the start of the season, showed great progress. Radionova's inspired free dance in the image of Princess Turandot was hindered only by sponsorship advertising of the famous automaker under the girl's slender legs. By God, knocked down the whole romantic mood. Well, the judges looked from the side and saw only the championship rental.
Tatyana Tarasova, commenting on Tuktamysheva's appearance on Match TV, recalled that the girl "has come from the city of Glazov, where the train stops for two minutes." Nevertheless, Lisa managed to jump into the car with skates under her arm and get to the St. Petersburg school of Alexei Mishin. If the resilient Professor is tired of something in his craft, then from endless questions: “When, when will Liza return to her previous level?” Back in China. Almost. The Petersburger pulled off a triple lutz and crumpled the exit in a cascade, but there was much more grace in her than tension. Perhaps, for the first time in the winter, under its rental, we managed to relax and watch the swings of the branded “sail sleeves”, which annoy for the first 30 seconds, and then begin to hypnotize. All this brought Lisa third place.
The doubles tournament, as such, did not take place in Beijing. All foreigners seem to have arrived with the thought: “The Chinese will win at home anyway, let’s sleep better!” The guests dozed off on the move, ripped off the simplest elements and allowed two Chinese couples to play for the first place. St. Petersburg duo Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov made very gross mistakes in lifts. Well at least no injuries this time. "I've regained my long-forgotten enjoyment of skating," Kawaguchi said optimistically, "But I wasn't quite mentally prepared for the performance." Russian Japanese woman can be understood. On Sunday, she celebrated her 34th birthday. You have to be an amazing athlete to keep the courage of amateur starts at that age. Of course, Smirnov and Kawaguchi are unique.
In the men's program, the idol of the Chinese stands, Jin Boyang, jumped like an NBA star. True, they hang on the ring, but how Boyan keeps in the air is incomprehensible to the mind. However, the great, terrible and by no means alien to China Canadian Patrick Chan jumped him on charisma ... and reputation. Russian men once again they found themselves aloof from the conversation of champions, content with the struggle for the places of the best among the worst. Sergei Voronov took third place. The Russians have room to improve, but the leaders are too far away. It’s not their backs that loom on the horizon, but the return of Evgeni Plushenko.
In dancing, it generally seemed that Tatyana Navka was skating again on the ice. The skill of stylists made Victoria Sinitsina her exact copy of the Turin Olympics. Same hairstyle, dazzling golden hair, piercing gaze... that doesn't have that twinkle in it. The dances of the “blue-eyed couple” Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsyna are like those balls from a joke. Beautiful, fly, but do not please. However, after two joint seasons, the guys finally rose to technical heights. At the Chinese stage, they were quite harmonious for the fourth place. Perhaps passion will follow synchronicity. Muscovite Ivan Bukin and Petersburger Alexandra Stepanova showed themselves superbly - the bronze medalists of the stage. Here they have enough spark for a whole team of synchronized skaters and there will still be left for the judges to light up. The rarest exquisite rotations of the “duo of the two capitals” deserve the highest marks, but the arbitrators hold them. Let's hope so far.
results
The Grand Prix. Fifth stage. Cup of China (Beijing, China)
Final position. Men. 1. Chan (Canada) - 279.72; 2. Jin Boyan (China) - 278.54; 3. Ravens - 243.76 ... 6. Petrov - 228.44; 7. Kovtun (all - Russia) - 221.43
Women. 1. Radionova (Russia) - 205.90; 2. Osmond (Canada) - 196.00; 3. Tuktamysheva (Russia) - 192.57
Couples. 1. You Xiaoyu / Zhang Hao - 203.76; 2. Peng Chen / Jing Yang (all - China) - 197.96; 3. Ilyushechkina / Moskovich (Canada) - 191.54 ... 6. Kawaguchi / Smirnov (Russia) - 175.53
Dancing. 1. M. Shibutani/A. Shibutani (USA) - 185.13; 2. Weaver / After (Canada) - 181.54; 3. Stepanova / Bukin - 177.41; 4. Sinitsina / Katsalapov (all - Russia) - 171.94
Russian figure skater Elena Radionova gave a surprise by becoming the winner of the Chinese stage of the Grand Prix in the women's single skating. Taking second place in the short program, the 17-year-old Muscovite skated superbly free skate, thanks to which she was ahead of the leading Canadian Caitlin Osmond almost ten points.
During her Turandot program, Radionova completed six triple jumps, including a triple lutz - a single toe loop - a triple salchow. However, she made a small mistake on the sheepskin coat, because of which she missed points.
And yet, a score of 135.15 points for a free program was her best result of the season. With a total of 205.90 points, Radionova won her first gold at the Grand Prix stages.
I climbed the podium and another Russian woman Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who completed five clean triple jumps in her Peer Gynt program.
The 2015 World and European champion in the free program scored a record 127.69 points for herself this season, due to which she moved from fourth to third place, which should help her get out of the protracted crisis.
Japanese Mai Mihara dropped from third to fourth position after two jumping errors. Another Japanese Rika Hongo became the fifth, and the titled American Ashley Wagner- only the sixth.
Obviously, with the gold and silver medals, Radionova made it to the Grand Prix finals. Osmond should perform there with two silver medals. But Wagner has practically lost her chances to qualify for the coveted six.
Figure skating
Chinese Grand Prix. Women
1. Elena Radionova (Russia) - 205.90 2. Caitlin Osmond (Canada) - 196.00 3. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (Russia) - 192.57 4. Mai Mihara (Japan) - 190.92 5. Rika Hongo (Japan) - 181.75 6. Ashley Wagner (USA) - 181.38 7. Karen Chen (USA) - 179.39 8. Li Zijun (China) - 172.40 9. Courtney Hicks (USA) - 163.64 10. Li Xiangning (China) - 157.27
Highlights in women's skating
⛸ #GPFigure
🔢 Expect a fight from Japanese Ladies at NHK to make it to the Final in Marseille.
👉 https://t.co/nKHuLGOsOE pic.twitter.com/Qz6dZCLjjD
Chan's unexpected jerk
Three times world champion Patrick Chan to some extent he failed the short program, taking only third place with a modest result of 83.41. However, in a free program, he incredibly managed to get ahead of all his rivals.
At the box office, to the music of Journey, the Canadian made only one blunder when he fell on the quarter salchow. But that didn't stop him from showing best result in the season - 196.31 points. In total, he scored 279.72 points, winning his second victory at the Grand Prix stages.
The second was the Chinese Jin Boyang, confidently leading after the first type of program. Perhaps on home ice he would have managed to take first place if not for a mistake on the quarter sheepskin coat, which took away many points from him.
It is pleasant to note that the Russian has closed the top three Sergei Voronov. According to the results of the short and free programs, he took fourth place, but in the end he became third, since many of his competitors did not show stability.
Voronov successfully made a combination of a quadruple and a triple toe loop, as well as two triple axels. But there were some stupid mistakes, such as the execution of an extra cascade.
Fourth place was taken by an American Mac Aaron, fifth - Chinese Yan Han, and the sixth and seventh places went to the Russians - Alexander Petrov And Maxim Kovtun. Both Petrov and Kovtun failed the short program, and although they performed a little better in the free program, they did not get to the podium.
As for the Grand Prix finals, Chan has already made it through, joining the Spaniard Javier Fernandez and Japanese Shoma Uno.
Figure skating
Chinese Grand Prix. Men
1. Patrick Chan (Canada) - 279.72 2. Jin Boyang (China) - 278.54 3. Sergey Voronov (Russia) - 243.76 4. Max Aaron (USA) - 242.74 5. Han Yan (China) - 230.19 6. Alexander Petrov (Russia) - 228.44 7. Maxim Kovtun (Russia) - 221.43 8. Daniel Samokhin (Israel) - 213.51 9. Ross Miner (USA) - 213.34 10. Michal Brzezina (Czech Republic) - 211.77
The best moments in men's skating
Home triumph in pairs
In pair skating, the figure skaters from China were absolutely the best. Won the Grand Prix Yu Xiaoyu And Zhang Hao spending their first season on the same team.
The silver medalists of the Canadian stage showed the best result in the short and free programs, scored 203.76 in total and climbed to the top step of the podium.
another chinese couple Peng Cheng And Jin Yang I tried it on myself, which, most likely, I was satisfied with, because after the first day I was only in the third position.
Well, the ex-Russian closed the top three Lyubov Ilyushechkina And Dylan Moskovich representing Canada. Due to errors on solo jumps, they did not get points and could not hold the second line.
The Chinese stopped a step away from the podium Wang Xuehan And Wang Lei, Italians Nicole Della Monica And Matteo Guarise became the fifth, and the Russians Yuko Kawaguchi And Alexander Smirnov finished sixth.
Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao qualified for the Grand Prix final, while Peng Cheng and Jin Yang will compete for it in Japan. Previously, Russians received trips to Marseille Evgenia Tarasova And Vladimir Morozov, as well as representatives of Germany Alena Savchenko And Bruno Massot.
Figure skating
Chinese Grand Prix. sports couples
1. Yu Xiaoyu - Hao Zhang (China) - 203.76 2. Cheng Peng - Jin Yang (China) - 197.96 3. Lyubov Ilyushechkina - Dylan Moskovich (Canada) - 191.54 4. Wang Xuehan - Wang Lei (China) - 182.02 5. Nicole Della Monica - Matteo Guarise (Italy) - 176.38 6. Yuko Kawaguchi - Alexander Smirnov (Russia) - 175.53 7. Marie Wartmann - Ruben Blommaert (Germany) - 173.88 8. Jessica Fand - Joshua Santillan (USA) - 142.41
The best moments in pair skating
Stepanova and Bukin's progress
In ice dancing, Russian fans were pleased Alexandra Stepanova And Ivan Bukin, who took third place and scored more than 100 points for the free dance for the first time.
To the music of Argentine tango, the Russians performed level 4 lifts, twizzles and spins, while their diagonals and serpentines were rated level 3.
In general, Stepanova and Bukin continue to progress, so we can expect serious competition from them with the leaders in the near future.
Americans win in China Mayan And Alex Shibutani, ahead of the results of free dance Caitlin Weaver And Andrew Poje from Canada.
Another Russian couple Victoria Sinitsina And Nikita Katsalapov stopped a step away from medals, taking fourth place, not only in terms of total points, but also in each of the programs separately.
Maya and Alex Shibutani, their compatriots, qualified for the Grand Prix final Madison Chalk / Evan Bates And Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donoghue, as well as the Russians Ekaterina Bobrova And Dmitry Solovyov.
Figure skating
Chinese Grand Prix. Dancing on Ice
1. Maya Shibutani - Alex Shibutani (USA) - 185.13 2. Caitlin Weaver - Andrew Poje (Canada) - 181.54 3. Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin (Russia) - 177.41 4. Victoria Sinitsina - Nikita Katsalapov (Russia) - 171.94 5. Natalia Kalishek - Maxim Spodyrev (Poland) - 150.78 6. Wang Shiyue - Liu Xinyu (China) - 149.80 7. Anastasia Cannucio - Colin McManus (USA) - 141.17 8. Sun Linshu - Sun Zhuoming (China) - 130.90 9. Chen Hong - Zhao Yan (China) - 117.32
Best Ice Dancing Moments
⛸ #GPFigure
🔢 Shibutanis qualified for Marseille while Virtue/Moir and Papadakis/Cizeron look for the top 6.
👉 https://t.co/5rO7MOYWDl pic.twitter.com/84ECnCkPLg
TASS, November 3rd. The third stage of the Figure Skating Grand Prix series starts on Friday in Beijing. On the ice of the Chinese capital is expected to fight for prizes between three Russian figure skaters - Alina Zagitova, Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.
If Tuktamysheva and Zagitova make their debut in the current Grand Prix series, then Radionova has already performed at the starting stage in Moscow in October, having managed to take only fourth place. The victory in Beijing will allow Radionova to claim a place in the Grand Prix finals, which will be held in Nagoya, Japan in December. Zagitova won the Junior Grand Prix final last season, while Tuktamysheva had a great 2014/15 season when she became World and European Champion and also won the Grand Prix Final.
Among the main competitors of Russian figure skaters in Beijing is 16-year-old Japanese Wakaba Higuchi, who took third place at the stage in Moscow.
Mikhail Kolyada and Alexander Petrov will perform in the men's skating in Beijing. Kolyada performed well at the home stage, where he took third place, keeping the chances of reaching the Grand Prix final. In Beijing will begin performances in the series two-time champion world Spaniard Javier Fernandez, as well as Chinese figure skaters, among them - a two-time bronze medalist world championships Jin Boyang.
No pair skating
In pair skating, Russian figure skaters will not be represented in Beijing. Seven couples will perform in the Chinese capital, three of them represent China. The favorites are world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong and 2016 Grand Prix Final silver medalists Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao.
Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov, as well as Tiffany Zagorski and Jonathan Gureiro are declared in the competition of dance duets. Olympic champions Games in Sochi, Bobrova and Soloviev became the second at the Grand Prix stage in Moscow, in case of a successful performance in Beijing, they will reserve their participation in the final. The main competitors of the Russian duo are two-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron from France and two-time world championship winners Americans Madison Chalk and Evan Bates.
Stage in Beijing will be held for three days on the ice Olympic Hall"Capital Gymnasium". As part of the Grand Prix series, stages have already taken place in Moscow and Canadian Regina, tournaments are also planned in Osaka (Japan), French Grenoble and American Lake Placid. The Grand Prix Final this season will be held in Nagoya on December 7-10.
