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2007 Russian National Figure Skating Championships

Men's Highlights

Andrei Griazev captured his first senior title in the men's event, while Andrei Lutai won his first senior medal (the silver). Sergei Dobrin won his second consecutive bronze.

All medalists have earned a spot at the upcoming European Figure Skating Championships.

Short Program

Andrei Lutai appeared relaxed and confident, delivering a solid performance which featured a triple Axel, a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple loop, and very good spins and footwork. The 20-year-old placed first with 77.20 points.

"I'm pretty happy with my performance," said Lutai, adding that he may attempt a quad in the long program.

Skating with expression and good character to a Latin medley, Andrei Griazev fell out of the landing on a triple toeloop (in combination with a triple Lutz), but managed to save the landings on a triple Axel and a triple flip. Despite the mistake, the 2005 National silver medalist placed second with 70.93 points, showing marked improvement since his Grand Prix events.

"I felt good about the program except for the mistake on the combination jump," said Griazev. When asked if he would do a quad in the long, he replied: "I'll do whatever my coach tells me."

Sergei Dobrin stepped out a quadruple Salchow (in combination with a double toeloop) and but otherwise produced a triple flip and a good straight line footwork sequence. However, he opted to do a double Axel as a required solo Axel jump after all his previous attempts on doing the triple resulted in falls. He was third with 70.45 points.

"I could have done better," admitted Dobrin. He also confirmed that double Axel was intended and that he would also attempt a quad in the long.

Sergei Voronov doubled a flip in the intended triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but recovered to land an excellent triple Axel, and a triple loop in his routine to Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninov. The current World Junior silver medalist also displaying good technique in his spins and footwork throughout his short, placing fourth with 70.11 points.

Skating to music by Vanessa Mae, Ilia Klimkin stepped out of the landing of his opening triple Axel and then fell on a quadruple toeloop. However, the current national silver medalist landed a triple loop and displayed nice footwork and excellent spins, earning 69.99 points for a fifth place finish.

Nikita Mikhailov produced a solid triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple flip, a very good level one straight line footwork sequence, and a double Axel in his entertaining routine to the variations of Besame Mucho. He placed sixth with 65.77 points

Vladimir Uspenski also did well, landing a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple flip, a level three circular footwork sequence, and a double Axel to finish seventh (64.84 points).

Ivan Tretiakov presented a nice junior level performance which included a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple flip, a double Axel, a good level three straight line footwork sequence, and two spins that were graded a level four. He was eighth with 64.33 points.

Konstantin Menshov showed good speed, delivering a quadruple toeloop-double toeloop combination, a very good triple flip, and good footwork throughout, however, he fell on a triple Axel. He placed ninth with 63.93 points.

Alexander Shubin showed good attitude and presentation in his tango routine, landing a triple Salchow-triple toeloop combination, but he stepped out of triple Axel, placing 10th with 60.78 points.

Artem Borodulin landed a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a double Axel out of a spread eagle, but had problems on the triple flip. He was 11th (60.69 points).

Mikhail Magerovski fell on his opening triple Axel, and had problems on both his change combination spins, but otherwise landed a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a triple flip to score 60.45 points, placing 12th.

Denis Leushin stepped out of and two-footed the landing on a triple Axel and didn't complete a triple flip-triple toeloop combination. Although he produced a good level two straight line footwork sequence, he also doubled a Lutz and was 13th with 57.97 points.

Alexander Kondakov landed a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a triple flip, but stepped out of the landing and put his hands down on a triple Axel. He was 14th (56.83 points).

Sergei Rozanov landed a triple Salchow-double toeloop combination and a triple flip, but stepped out of the landing of a triple Axel, putting his hand down. He was 15th (56.20 points).

Maxim Sheplonov was 16th (51.19 points), followed by Andrei Lezin (51.19 points) and Artur Gatchinski (47.95 points).

Long Program

Griazev skated a solid program which included eight good triple jumps - three of which were in combination with other jumps, as well as good spins and a very good level two straight line footwork sequence. The 21-year-old was awarded 151.21 points for his Notre Dame routine, placing first in the long and moving up from second to first overall to win his first senior national title (222.14 points).

"The coaches are responsible for 90% of my success... well, ok, 80/20," said Griazev. "I am happy with the way I skated today. It was a long road to this success. The start of the season wasn't as good as I could have hoped for, but I never gave up. This success will give me confidence. I am sure I will skate better in future."

Skating to music from The Mask of Zorro soundtrack, Dobrin opened with a quadruple Salchow-triple toeloop combination, but then did a three turn out of the landing of his quadruple Salchow and doubled a Lutz on a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination. He went on to execute a double Axel-double toeloop combination and two more triples, but fell on a triple Lutz. Despite the mistakes, the 20-year-old displayed good spins and footwork, placing second in the long (140.48 points) and maintained third place overall (210.93 points).

Lutai opened his routine with a very good triple Axel, but then turned out the landing of a quadruple toeloop and stepped out of the landing of a triple loop. The student from St. Petersburg later doubled a flip, but otherwise produced a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple Salchow-double toeloop combination, and good spins and footwork. The 2006 Karl Schäfer Memorial Champion placed third in the long with 139.94 points, and with a total of 217.14 points, slipped to second overall.

"I am satisfied with my performance," said Lutai during a press conference. "I landed the difficult jumps first, but then got too relaxed and missed a number of easy jumps. But I was able to pull myself together and finish the program strong." He added that his coach (Alexei Mishin) was a bit disappointed. "He [Mishin] did not expect me to loose concentration like that."

Menshov, who stood in ninth after the short, reeled off a solid quadruple toeloop-double toeloop combination, followed by a very good quadruple toeloop, but then doubled a flip. The 24-year-old also underrotated a triple toeloop (in combination with a triple Lutz) and stepped out of a triple flip (meant to be in combination with a double toeloop), but otherwise delivered two more good triples and good footwork to place fourth in the long (131.79 points) and fifth overall (195.72 points).

Tretiakov, who stood in eighth after the short, produced a fairly clean routine to a Queen medley which included eight triple jumps (three of which were in combination with other jumps). The 18-year-old was awarded 128.68 points for a fifth place finish in the long, moving up one spot to seventh overall (193.01 points).

Klimkin landed a very good triple Axel-triple toeloop combination in the opening of his Mask routine, but then fell on a quadruple toeloop, turned out the landing of a triple Salchow, underrotated a quadruple toeloop, stepped out of a triple flip (in combination with a double toeloop), and doubled a loop. The 26-year-old otherwise produced very good spins and footwork, placing sixth in the long (125.95 points) and fourth overall (195.94 points).

Voronov received credit for four clean triple jumps (two were in combination with double jumps), as well as good spins, but he put his hand down on the landing of a triple Axel and fell on another triple Axel. The 19-year-old placed seventh in the long (125.19 points) and slipped from fourth to sixth place overall (195.30 points).

Borodulin skated an inspiring routine while showing good lines, flow and attack. Despite a popped a triple Axel attempt, the 17-year-old from Moscow otherwise produced seven triple jumps and a level three circular footwork sequence. He was eighth in the long (124.10 points) and overall (184.79 points).

Kondakov fell on his opening triple Axel, but otherwise delivered five more clean triples (two in combination with other jumps) and a double Axel. The 22-year-old finished ninth (115.76 points) in the long and 11th overall (172.59 points).

Mikhailov showed good interpretation in his routine, displaying good spins and footwork, but only executed five triple jumps (four of which were clean). He finished 10th in the long (114.59 points), slipping from sixth to ninth place overall (180.36 points).

Gatchinski placed 11th in the long, moving up from 18th to 14th overall (161.71 points).

Uspenski, who stood in seventh after the short, finished 12th in the long (109.04 and slipped to 10th overall (173.88 points).

Shubin, who was 10th after the short, placed 17th in the long (100.14 points) and slipped to 15th overall (160.92 points).

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