Davis and White win second Grand Prix gold for season in Moscow

The last stage of the Grand Prix series concluded with the Free Dance competition at the 2011 Rostelecom Cup of Russia. The top teams finished in the same order as they did in a Short Dance yesterday, but it did not distract from the strong impression left by three very different dances delivered by the leaders.

USA’s Meryl Davis and Charlie White easily won the event by posting the highest score of the season (179.06) – nearly a 20-point advantage over the runners up. Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje won their third silver medal of the series, while Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev took the bronze.

Despite the relative lack of mileage they had with their new free dance to “Die Fledermaus”, Davis and White…

Hanyu takes Cup of Russia gold; Fernandez wins silver

The Men’s event was the most intriguing one at the final stage of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series in Moscow, Russia. Depending on the relative placement of the top competitors, several skaters had a chance to join Michal Brezina in the Final.

How things would pan out was not clear until the very last performance, but in the end, the situation resolved itself to everyone’s satisfaction. All three medalists – Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN), Javier Fernandez (ESP), and Jeremy Abbott (USA) – will be making a trip to Canada in two weeks.

Hanyu, who was in the toughest position of needing a victory to qualify, was able to do precisely that. He was not flawless, however, as he once again fell out of a quad toe loop landing and had a…

Savchenko and Szolkowy win Cup of Russia; Italians make history

The Pairs free skating event was the highlight of the second competition day at the Moscow “Megasport” palace. The top two teams – Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy and Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov – produced performances worthy of a World Championships final.

Italians Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek took the bronze and made history by becoming the first Italian pair skating team to win a medal at a Grand Prix Series event.

Savchenko and Szolkowy’s performance to the soundtrack from Pina was one of the finest in their career. The skaters, who often struggle with consistency in their sophisticated routines, made only one small mistake over the course of four minutes: Savchenko stepped out of a double Axel landing. The rest of…

Asada takes gold at Cup of Russia

The second competition day of the Rostelecom Cup attracted a sizable crowd to the Megasport Arena in Moscow, Russia. The venue with a 14,000 seat capacity was more than two thirds full for the Saturday finals, a major improvement over half-empty stands in the past few years.

The first set of medals was decided in the Ladies event. Though the top three placements did not change from the Short Program, the level of the performances were not as good as yesterday. Japan’s Mao Asada won the gold, while Russia’s Alena Leonova and Adelina Sotnikova took the silver and bronze, respectively.

While Asada decided to play it safe and did not attempt a triple Axel, the removal of the challenging element did not help her to skate clean. Her performance to Franz Liszt’s Liebestraum featured only…

Davis and White overcome a shaky start to lead at Rostelecom Cup

The Short Dance was the final event of the first day at the Rostelecom Cup, but the conclusion of the competition was not quite as flawless as one might have expected from an ice dancing event. A number of leading teams made visible mistakes and only two out of seven teams received level four for one of the series of Rhumba patterns.

USA’s Meryl Davis and Charlie White currently lead the field, while Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje upset home favorites Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia to finish second.

“The thing about Rhumba is that it has a pretty unique step,” explained Marina Zoueva, the coach of the reigning Olympic and World Champions. “This wide-stepped choctaw is not used anywhere else expect for this…

Abbott wins short program at Cup of Russia

For the event with only nine participants and the overall running time of an hour and a half, the Men’s Short Program at the Rostelecom Cup was full of drama and the performances ranged from nearly perfect to pretty much disastrous.

USA’s Jeremy Abbott currently leads the men with Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu and Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic trailing close behind.

Abbott’s easy-going jazzy routine to Bei mir bist du schoen and Swing Kids did not feature a quad jump attempt, but otherwise was as good as it gets. The neatly choreographed program demands at least as much attention to the proper presentation of all connecting moves as it does to the elements’ set ups. However, the two-time U.S. Champion was up to the task, making it…

Savchenko and Szolkowy skate safe, but clean in Moscow

With two top teams having already secured a place in the Grand Prix Final of Figure Skating, the main intrigue of the Pairs Short Program was whether or not either Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy or Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov would use this opportunity to try something new in a competition without much pressure.

Surprisingly, the Germans opted to play it safe and returned to the more familiar throw triple flip instead of the throw triple Axel.

“It was a last minute decision,” explained Savchenko of the throw triple Axel. “We had been working hard on it, but recently we did not have a lot of practice of doing it during the run-throughs. But it is getting better.”

Taking the cutting-edge element out allowed the…

Asada edges Leonova for the overnight lead in Moscow

The final stage of the 2011-12 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series began today in Moscow with the Ladies Short Program. With the diverse field ranging from debutants to World Champion, the level of the event was surprisingly even. Japan’s Mao Asada currently leads the ladies, followed by Russia’s Alena Leonova and Adelina Sotnikova.

Asada, who had decided during the morning practice not to go for a triple Axel and had no triple-triple combination planned, finished first with the second highest score of the Series (64.29) on the strength of overall quality of her skating.

Eschewing dramatic scores she favored in the past, the student of Nobuo Sato shined throughout her performance to Scheherazade, floating effortlessly from one element to the next with the smile never leaving her face. For all the apparent easiness, the program was quite heavy in…