Virtue and Moir win third Skate Canada gold

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada danced effortlessly to their third Skate Canada title as the event wrapped up Sunday in Mississauga, Ontario. Teammates Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje clinched the silver medal, while the bronze went to Italians Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte.

Virtue and Moir looked sharp the moment they stepped on to the ice, and the Olympic Champions immediately got into the characters of Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire from the movie Funny Face. Their lifts were strong and their footwork had good flow. They picked up a level four for five out of seven elements. Both step sequences were a level three. At the end, an excited Moir hugged his partner and beamed with joy. The team scored 106.73 points…

Chan skates to victory; Fernandez writes history

To the delight of the home crowd, World Champion Patrick Chan of Canada skated to the gold medal at Skate Canada International in Mississauga on Saturday. Spaniard Javier Fernandez wrote history by winning the silver, the first Grand Prix medal for his country. 2010 World Champion Daisuke Takahashi of Japan earned the bronze.

Chan stood in third place after the short and he attacked. The 20-year-old went down on the first quad toe, but rallied to nail a quad toe-triple toe as his next element. He also produced a triple Axel and four more triples in his routine to Concierto de Aranjuez. He slipped and fell when setting up for the triple Lutz, but still did the jump, though it was wobbly. The World Champion scored 170.46 points and moved up from…

Volosozhar and Trankov take gold in Grand Prix debut

Russia’s Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov didn’t have much trouble winning their first Grand Prix event as a team at Skate Canada International on Saturday, but their performance wasn’t as perfect as they would have liked it to be. China’s World Junior Champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han came from fourth to earn the silver, while Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada settled for the bronze.

Volosozhar and Trankov have chosen the popular soundtrack of the Black Swan for their powerful and dark free program. They performed their big triple twist, already a signature move for them, as well as a triple toe-double toe combination, a throw triple loop, and two level-four spins. However, Trankov stumbled on the triple Salchow while Volosozhar two-footed…

Prodigy Tuktamysheva strikes gold in Grand Prix debut

Russian prodigy Elizaveta (Lisa) Tuktamysheva claimed the gold in her senior Grand Prix figure skating debut at Skate Canada International on Saturday, outshining more experienced competitors. Akiko Suzuki of Japan won the free skating to move up from fourth to second place, while USA’s Ashley Wagner captured the bronze.

 Tuktamysheva is probably the youngest Grand Prix winner so far as Mao Asada (JPN) was three months older when she won her first Grand Prix gold in 2005. Even Asada and Yuna Kim (KOR) didn’t win their very first Grand Prix when they emerged on the senior scene, but finished second and third, respectively. Both went on to win their second event in their first year on the senior Grand Prix circuit.

 Tuktamysheva easily skated through her Latin-themed program, nailing six triple jumps including…

Virtue and Moir take easy lead at Skate Canada

Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada looked relaxed and happy and had no trouble dancing to a clear lead in the Short Dance at Skate Canada International on Friday. Teammates Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje are ranked second with Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy following in third.

Virtue and Moir gave the crowd what they were looking for – an entertaining and technically strong performance to HipHip ChinChin, Temptation, and Mujer Latina. The current World silver medallists got a level four and three for the Rhumba sequences, a level four for the twizzles and the curve lift, as well as a level three for the side by side circular steps. They posted 71.61 points.

“We are so excited…

Spain’s Fernández surprises at Skate Canada

Javier Fernández of Spain was the big winner Friday at Skate Canada International, beating two World Champions en route to his first place in the Men’s short program. 2010 World Champion Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) and 2011 World Champion Patrick Chan (CAN) had to settle for second and third.

Fernández wasn’t even ranked high enough in the ISU world standings to make it to the second warm up group. He didn’t care, just went out and hit the only clean quad toe of the day, followed by a triple Lutz-triple toe and a big triple Axel in his program to Petit Fleur and I Love Paris. The 20-year-old scored a whooping 84.71 points, a big personal best for him.

“I’m really happy,” the overwhelmed Spaniard said. “I’m so happy that my work paid off. We…

Volosozhar and Trankov lead pairs at Skate Canada

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia clearly won the Pairs short program ahead of Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford and Japan’s Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran on Friday at Skate Canada International in Mississauga, Ontario.

Volosozhar and Trankov were very strong technically in their program to Вring Me Back To Life by Evanescence, reeling off a big triple twist, a throw triple flip and a triple toe. The World silver medalists also merited a level four for the other elements to achieve a personal best of 70.42 points. However, the program still looked a bit ragged and the music was distracting.

“We did a good short program today and we got a nice score for us,” said Volosozhar. “For…

Tuktamysheva upsets favorites at Skate Canada

Russia’s Elizaveta (Lisa) Tuktamysheva won the Ladies short program at Skate Canada International Friday in Mississauga as the favorites stumbled. Two U.S. competitors, Ashley Wagner and Rachael Flatt, placed second and third.

Tuktamysheva had a strong figure skating debut at the international senior level. The World Junior silver medallist pulled off a beautiful triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination that garnered a plus two Grade of Execution (GOE) from eight out of the nine judges. The 14-year-old went on to nail a triple loop and an easy looking double Axel with her hand over her head. Although she looks as young as she is, the skater interpreted her Tango routine well. Tuktamysheva earned a personal best score of 59.57 points.

“Competing in my first senior Grand Prix event, I didn’t know what to expect,” said…