Delobel and Schoenfelder maintain lead in Japan

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder maintained their overnight lead despite a second place finish in the Original Dance (OD).

Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are second overall, followed by Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski of Russia.

Virtue and Moir delivered a strong performance to “Kalinka”, receiving a level four and positive Grades of Execution (GoE) on all elements.

Their routine was highlighted by matching twizzles during the midline sequence, an elaborate circular step sequence, and two difficult lifts.

The Canadian silver medalists earned a new personal best of 62.04 (33.60/28.44) points, but with a total score of 96.71 points, remain in second overall.

“It definitely felt better than at Skate Canada,” said Virtue. “We definitely had more energy. It was more fun because we felt the connection a little bit more. We’re very happy with it.”

Performing to a Gavotte (a French country dance), Delobel and Schoenfelder opened with a strong midline twizzle sequence, non-touching midline step sequence, and a unique straightline lift in…

Savchenko and Szolkowy capture gold at NHK

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany maintained their overnight lead after the long program, winning the gold with more than 24 points total.

USA’s Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker rose from fourth to capture the silver, while Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison of Canada won the bronze.

Savchenko and Szolkowy, who are competing in their third grand prix event this season, scored a seasonal best of 120.32 (58.64/61.68) points in their long program to L’Oiseau by René Dupéré.

The German champions opened with a solid throw triple flip which earned the team +1.12 GoEs. They followed up with a side-by-side triple toeloop-double Axel sequence, a level two triple twist, and a level four lift.

Once again, however, they experienced problems on their side-by-side triple Salchows when Szolkowy stumbled on his landing. Savchenko also popped a throw triple Salchow – their final element.

“It is just a second and then it’s gone,” explained Savchenko of the popped throw jump. “I did a mistake,” added…

Kostner leads ladies at NHK

The Ladies Short Program proved to be a tight competition with only 3 points separating the first and fourth place skater.

Carolina Kostner of Italy is currently in first, followed by Japan’s Miki Ando and Switzerland’s Sarah Meier, respectively.

Kostner stepped out of the landing of a triple Lutz in her routine to Riders on the Storm, but otherwise delivered a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and double Axel.

The Italian champion, who earned 61.24 (32.84/28.40) points, was awarded a level four for her spiral sequence and both spins, as well as positive GoEs for her level three straightline footwork sequence.

The 20-year-old was pleased with her performance.

“I know I had some small mistakes,” said Kostner, “.”

Ando is close on her heels with 60.52 (30.84/29.68) points after her performance to Samson and…

Delobel and Schoenfelder tango to the lead

The sixth and final qualifying event of the 2007-08 ISU Grand Prix Series continues with the NHK Trophy which is being held Nov. 29 – Dec. 2 in Sendai, Japan at the Sendai City Gymnasium.

Approximately 57 skaters from 18 different countries are competing for points and global prize monies totaling $180,000 in U.S. dollars. The points will go toward qualification for the Grand Prix Final in which the top six competitors from each discipline will be invited to compete for a total purse of $272,000 U.S. dollars.

The Grand Prix Final of Figure Skating will be held Dec. 13-16, 2007, in Torino, Italy.

The competition kicked off on Nov. 29 with the Compulsory Dance.

The Compulsory Dance (CD) for this event was the Argentine Tango. The dance was invented by Reginald J. Wilkie and Daphne B. Wallis and was first performed in 1934 at the Westminster Ice Rink in London, England.

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France placed first in the CD,…

Savchenko and Szolkowy first after short at NHK

Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy place first in the short program with a comfortable lead ahead of Ukrainians Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov. Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison of Canada are currently in third.

Savchenko and Szolkowy delivered a strong and intense routine to music from the Asoka soundtrack, earning a new personal best of 70.32 (39.92/30.40) points.

The German champions opened with a throw triple flip which received a +1.40 for Grade of Execution (GoE), followed by an good triple twist and solid side-by-side triple toeloops. They also produced good spins, as well as a level four Axel lift and backward-inside death spiral.

“Our program today was much better than last week in Moscow (Cup of Russia),” noted Szolkowy. “We still had a few small mistakes in the elements and there are things left to work on. For tomorrow we want to skate a clean program and want to show what we do in training.”

Volosozhar and Morozov earned a new…

Domnina and Shabalin win gold at Cup of Russia

Russia’s Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin easily maintained first throughout the event to win the gold, distancing themselves by over 21 points from the rest of the pack (205.24 points total).

Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France took the silver (184.38 points), while Ukrainians Anna Zadorozhniuk and Sergei Verbillo edged out Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev to win the bronze by a mere 0.13 points.

Domnina and Shabalin delivered a powerful Free Dance (FD) to Waltz from Masquerade by Aram Khachaturian, which tells the story of an arranged and unequal marriage between an elderly man and a young woman.

The theme was highlighted by Domnina constantly trying to “run away” from her partner in the first part of the dance, while “turning away” from him throughout.

The 2007 European silver…

Kim takes gold with record score

Yu-Na Kim of South Korea easily won the gold in the Ladies, distancing herself from the rest by more than 24 points.

Japan’s Yukari Nakano won the silver, while Joannie Rochette of Canada captured the bronze.

Not only did Kim win the gold, she set a new world record for the ladies long with a personal best of 133.70 points.

The 17-year-old’s skating was so soft and fluid that only judges felt necessary to nitpick on the minor details, giving her a -0.20 Grade of Execution (GOE) for a somewhat tight landing of her second triple Lutz.

“Some jumps felt shaky and I worried about it,” Kim later admitted, “but I got a new personal best and I qualified for the Grand Prix Final.”

However, two judges went as…

Domnina and Shabalin maintain easy lead

Russia’s Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin easily maintained their overnight lead, winning the Original Dance (OD) with a new personal best of 63.20 (32.70/30.50) points.

Domnina had a minor stumble in the step sequence right before the twizzle sections, but she quickly recovered, and the team never stopped expressing the character of the dance.

The 2007 European silver medalists received a level four on all their elements except for a level three on a non-touching midline step sequence. The home crowd eagerly supported the team throughout their powerful performance to “Boys, Unharness The Horses!”, and the Russian champions also earned some loud catcalls from the cadets of the local military academy who received free tickets for the event.

The Russian champions, who have a total of 103.25 points,…