Snoopy in wonderland

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final continued Saturday in Torino, Italy with the Free Dance, the Men’s, Pairs and Ladies Free Skating. The top six skaters/couples from the six events of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series have qualified for the Final from December 14 to 16. There are 24 skaters/couples from 11 ISU members competing in Torino.

Ice Dancing, Free Dance
Today’s competition opened with the Free Dance. In what was a close competition, Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin of Russia came out on top to win their first gold medal in the Grand Prix Final. Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto settled for the silver, and Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder earned the bronze, their first medal in this event. The top three couples were separated by only 2.17 points.

Domnina/Shabalin, who stood in third place following the Original Dance, gave an emotional and technically strong performance to “Waltz Masquerade” by Aram Khatchaturian, telling the story of a girl that is forced to marry a rich man that she doesn’t love. The Russian Champions completed well synchronized twizzles, intricate footwork, a straight line lift in a low position, a curve lift and a reverse rotational lift. All their eight elements were graded a level four by the Technical Panel, and the European silver medalists posted a new personal best score of 103.26 points (53.50 element score/49.76 program component score). They racked up a total of 165.57 points to overtake Belbin/Agosto and Delobel/ Schoenfelder. “I am very happy that we were able to really do our best technically and emotionally. So we felt really pleased and happy, because if you feel that you did your best it gives you an inner satisfaction. The result is still important, but it is also very important to feel that happiness inside. Yesterday we weren’t as pleased with what we did because we felt ourselves that it wasn’t the best we can do”, Domnina said. “Today wasn’t the most important victory of our career – hopefully that one is still to come – but it was the first competition where all the top couples met and we wanted to position ourselves well”, she continued. The couple also revealed that Shabalin is suffering from an inflammation in his left knee that started to bother him at their last practice at home before coming to Italy. “We weren’t even sure if we can compete”, Domnina said.
Belbin/Agosto’s classical medley of pieces by Frédéric Chopin featured smooth step sequences, and effortless looking yet difficult lifts including a curve-rotational lift with changes of position and a serpentine lift. Seven out of the eight elements were awarded a level four and only the serpentine lift was a level three. The Americans scored 100.50 points (51.50/49.00) and slipped from first to second place at 164.14 points. Belbin/Agosto won a second silver medal in the Final after 2005 in the same ice rink where they took the Olympic silver in 2006. They had not competed in the Final the past two seasons. “We didn’t make any mistakes. We have to ask around what they didn’t like about serpentine lift we got a level three. So many little things to think about, we have to go home and work hard”, Belbin commented. Agosto felt that there was not enough emotion in their performance today.
Delobel/Schoenfelder had chosen music from “The Piano” soundtrack, telling the love story of a deaf woman and a hearing man. The European Champions executed strong footwork, earning a level four for the side by side midline steps and a level three for the circular steps and showed beautiful lifts like a rotational lift and a serpentine lift with changes of position. However, they appeared somewhat slow and hesitant. The French picked up 100.11 points (51.40/48.71), which was a new seasons best for them. They overall accumulated 163.40 points. “We are disappointed. We expected to skate better today. Maybe we didn’t have enough energy, but I still think that this program will be very good, hopefully at the European and World Championships”, Schoenfelder told the post-event press conference. “We didn’t do the best we can do, but we are satisfied, because we focused on the new steps and got high levels”, his partner added.

Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) interpreted the romantic “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and produced a musical and smooth performance. They finished 4^th at 159.40 points. Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski excited the crowd with their dynamic routine to “Night on Bald Mountain” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. They especially drew applause for their daring lifts. The Russians placed 5^th (153.58 points). Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (FRA) presented their theme “Craziness” well, but he went down in the diagonal step sequence. The couple came in 6^th (140.82 points).

Men, Free Skating
Next up were the Men. Switzerland’s Stéphane Lambiel overtook overnight leader Daisuke Takahashi of Japan. The bronze medal went to Evan Lysacek (USA).

Lambiel had to overcome a shaky start into his expressive Flamenco routine when he stumbled on both his opening triple Axel and the quadruple toeloop. The two-time World Champion then pulled himself together to produce a triple loop, double Axel, triple flip-triple toe-double toe combination, a triple Salchow-double toe, another triple flip and strong spins and footwork, picking up level threes and fours for them. The 22-year-old doubled his Lutz, but added a triple toe to it for a combination, fighting for every point. Lambiel received a new seasonal best of 155.30 points (76.20 element score/79.10 program component score), which added up to 239.10 points overall. The Swiss edged out Takahashi by just 0.16 points to take his second gold medal in the Grand Prix Final. Lambiel had won in 2005 but didn’t qualify in 2006 after competing in only one Grand Prix event. “This comes as a big surprise to me. The competition was wide open, and it’s a competition with the level of a World Championship. I won the silver medal here at the Olympic Winter Games and now I win the Final here. My program is very strategic, very complicated and difficult with the triple Axel and the quad”, the reigning World bronze medalist explained. “I think what made the difference today was the spirit of the Flamenco program that I had.”
Performing to “Romeo and Juliet” by Peter Tchaikovski, Takahashi tripled his first planned quad toe but hit the quad seconds later. He went on to reel off a triple Axel, a tirple Axel-double toe-double loop, a triple flip and triple loop as well as a triple Lutz-double toe combination, but he doubled the Salchow. The current World silver medalist was awarded a level four for his combination spin, but the remaining spins and steps were graded a level three. The Japanese took 154.74 points (77.34/77.40) for this performance and collected a total of 238.94 to win his second consecutive silver medal in the Grand Prix Final. “I came here to win this event, so I’m really sad that I wasn’t able to achieve my goal. I’m really regretting to have made mistakes in the steps and also to have doubled the Salchow. There is something to work on for the next big competition”, the 21-year-old said. “It wasn’t so good for me. I missed my first quad and popped the Salchow. Just before I went out I heard the big applause for Stéphane and I tought that he had done well, but I focused on my own skating. When I made the mistake on the (first) quad, I thought that maybe I’m not going to win today”, he added.
Lysacek nailed a quad-triple toeloop combination in the first second of his dramatic “Tosca” routine, but then cheated the next jump, a triple Axel, which was downgraded. A triple loop followed, but he crashed on the triple Salchow. Lysacek landed another triple Axel-double toe, a triple flip-triple toe, a triple Lutz and was awarded a rare level four for his straight line step sequence. The U.S. Champion also got a level four for his flying sit spin and the combination spin to score 150.08 points (75.08/76.00). He remained in third place at 229.78 points and took home his first medal from the first Grand Prix Final he competed in. “I didn’t feel so over my feet today, I worked hard on the ice. I was a little tense, but I was excited about the quad. I’ve only done four (quad combinations) in competition, so this was a big step. It’s the first time for me to get a level four for the footwork”, the two-time World bronze medalist told the press. “In the work that I’ve put in in the last two weeks between China (Cup of China) and now I’ve seen a lot of improvement and I think I’m going to go home and concentrate on working and working very hard to improve even more before Nationals. So no rest!” he continued when asked for his next plans.

Johnny Weir (USA) came in 4^th. He landed six clean triples, but fell on a triple flip and doubled a loop (216.16 points). 16-year-old Patrick Chan was ranked 5^th. He delivered a strong performance that contained eight triples, and he only stumbled on his double Axel (208.13 points). Kevin van der Perren missed his quadruple toeloop and doubled his Axel to finish 6^th (189.52 points).

Pairs, Free Skating
Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy of Germany skated off with the gold medal in the Pairs event. China’s Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang and Qing Pang/Jian Tong took the silver and bronze medals. It was the first gold at the Final for the Germans, who had won the bronze and the silver in the two past years.
Savchenko/Szolkowy opened their performance to “L’Oiseau” with a high throw triple flip followed by a triple toe-triple toe sequence, however, he doubled the second jump. A triple twist and a toe lasso lift followed, and the program ended with a throw triple Salchow on the last seconds of the music. Savchenko only doubled the side by side Salchow while he stumbled on a triple. The couple was awarded a level four for their spins and the spiral sequence and a level three for their step sequence to earn a new seasons best score of 127.09 points (62.17 element score/65.92 program component score) which added up to a total of 199.23 points. “It’s a great feeling (to win), and right now I don’t think about the mistakes”, Szolkowy commented. “I felt some pressure, because we skated last and I knew that our competitors had made mistakes and that the door was wide open.”
Zhang/Zhang’s program to “The Myth” included a side by side triple Salchow, a triple twist, a throw triple Salchow and loop as well as two level-four Lasso lifts and a level-four pair combination spin. However, the 2006 World and Olympic silver medalists struggled with their opening combination, when he singled the Axel and both put down their hands on the triple toeloop. They also aborted their final lift prematurely, and it was graded only a level two. The Chinese scored 119.80 points (59.32/60.48) and remained in second place at 191.20. “We are disappointed. We rarely have performances like this”, Hao Zhang told the press.
Pang/Tong hit a double Axel-double Axel sequence, a triple twist, a triple throw Salchow and difficult lifts. However, she doubled the throw loop and he put his hand down on the side by side triple toe. The reigning World silver medalists picked up 118.45 points (58.85/59.60) and claimed the bronze with 185.13 points. “Yesterday night we went  to sleep very late. This evening we are very tired and with the long program has been hard. We´ll do better the next time”, Tong explained.

Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison (CAN) came in 4^th with a strong performance that contained a double Axel-double Axel sequence, a triple Salchow, a throw triple loop and difficult spins. Dubé only fell on the throw triple Lutz (172.43 points). Yuko Kawaguchi/Alexander Smirnov (RUS) came in 5^th. They risked a throw quadruple Salchow, but she missed it (161.75 points).
Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA) withdrew before the Free Skating. He is suffering from cellulitis in his left foot. They stood in 5^th place after the Short Program.

Ladies, Free Skating
Yu-Na Kim of Korea defended her Grand Prix title. Japan’s Mao Asada soared from sixth to second to take the silver like she had last year. To the delight of the home crowd in the Palavela ice rink, Italy’s Carolina Kostner captured the bronze in what was her first Grand Prix Final.

Kim nailed an impressive triple flip-triple toeloop combination in the first seconds of her “Miss Saigon” routine but then fell on her triple loop. The World bronze medalist didn’t let the mistake affect the rest of her performance and landed a triple Lutz-double toe, a double Axel-triple toe combination, another triple Lutz, a triple Salchow and a double Axel. She earned a level four for all her four spins and a level three for the step sequence. Kim got 132.21 points (72.25 element score/60.96 program component score) and was ranked second in the Free Skating, but remained in first at 196.83 points overall. “I was the last skater and I was nervous. My score was close to my personal best, so I’m pleased with that”, the 17-year-old commented. “Last year (at the Final), I didn’t do a perfect performance and I wasn’t too happy with it, and I had an injury. But this year my body is healthy. I can do a clean program and I’ll try my best for the next competition”, she continued.
Asada rallied back from a faulty Short Program that had left her in sixth and last place. The World silver medalist hit a triple Axel, a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Lutz (but got a deduction for the wrong edge take-off), a triple loop, a triple flip-triple loop combination and two double Axels (one in combination with two double loops) in her lyrical performance to “Fantaisie Impromptu” by Frédéric Chopin. The 17-year-old was awarded a level four for three of her spins and a level three for the step sequence. Her jumps looked effortless today. Asada scored a seasons best of 132.55 points (73.35/59.20) and won the Free Skating. Overall she pulled up to second at 191.59 points. “Yesterday in the Short Program I made two big mistakes. That was shocking. I never had left out the triple Lutz in my Short Program before. Today I was able to do all my jumps. When I finished my clean performance I felt so emotional and pleased that the tears flowed”, the Japanese said.
Kostner gave her best performance of the season so far as well, hitting a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Lutz-double loop, a triple loop, a double Axel-triple toe and a triple Salchow. She produced two level-four spins. The only mistakes came when she singled her second flip and stepped out of the final jump, a double Axel. The crowd of almost 6, 000 at Palavela cheered when they heard the score: The European Champion picked up a new personal best score of 119.07 points (60.35/58.72) for this performance and remained in third with 178.93 points total. “I have many, many emotions when skating in front of my home crowd. This is a special place for me. It is historical for me just to participate in the Final and to win a medal means even more. The level of this competition is very high and there are the six best women skaters of the World in this event. I’m very satisfied, because I have been able to do what I wanted. The huge applause meant that the audience had fun and I felt the energy during my performance”, Kostner explained.

Caroline Zhang (USA) was 4^th at 176.48 points. The reigning World Junior Champion reeled off five triples including a triple flip-triple toeloop combination. Yukari Nakano (JPN) came in 5^th with 172.96 points. She landed a triple Axel and five other triple jumps, but she crashed on a triple toe. Kimmie Meissner slipped from 4^th to 6^th after falling on her triple flip and both Lutzes (154.22 points).

For full results, please refer to www.isu.org. The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final concludes Sunday with the Exhibition Gala.


Belbin과 Agosto.
Navka와 Kostomarov가 은퇴하면 당연히 세계정상을 독차지할 줄 알았는데
그것도 아닌 모양이다. 보고는 싶은데 중계는 연아가 독점하고 있으니.