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2007 NHK Trophy - Figure Skating HighlightsMen's Short, the Free Dance, and the Ladies LongDec 1, 2007
The NHK Trophy continued with the Men's Short Program, the Free Dance, and the Ladies Long Program. Men (Short Program)Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic led the men in the short program by 0.26 points. Japan's Daisuke Takahashi and USA's Stephen Carriere placed second and third, respectively. Verner earned a new personal best of 78.15 (42.00/36.15) points for his strong routine to music by Django Reinhardt. The 2007 European silver medalist landed a solid triple Axel and triple Lutz, but was penalized on a triple flip (in combination with a triple toeloop) for using the wrong take-off edge. He otherwise produced two good level four footwork sequences, both of which received a Grade of Execution (GoE) of +1.20, and two of his spins were also awarded a level four. The 21-year-old was happy with his performance, but was hesitant to say too much as it might jinx his free skate. "I gave many interviews in Paris (Trophée Bompard) and then I didn't skate well," Verner explained, adding that he wanted to put that event behind him. Takahashi is in a very close second with 77.89 (39.64/38.25) points. The 2007 Skate America champion landed a solid triple flip-triple toeloop combination and triple Lutz, but stumbled on the landing of a triple Axel. He also delivered a very good level three circular and straightline footwork sequence, which were both awarded a positive G0E of +0.90. "I made an error on my triple Axel and on my spin, but the audience was behind me and my step sequence was better than at Skate America," noted Takahashi. "There it was only a level one, now it was a level three. I didn't change it, but I had more training. It was cleaner, had more edges." Carriere opted to get his level three circular footwork out of the way before producing a triple Axel in his Stairway to Heaven routine. The 2007 World Junior champion also produced a triple flip-double toeloop combination, as well as three level four spins, but he stepped out of his triple Lutz. Despite the mistake, Carriere earned a new personal best of 67.85 (35.40/32.45) points. "Today was a bit bittersweet, said Carriere. "The performance wasn't what I wanted. I was a bit hesitant in some elements. I am really happy that I got a lot of (high) levels on my other elements. For tomorrow, I will definitely put everything aside and go all out." The 18-year-old was injured in practice on Wednesday after falling on a double Axel. "The heel of my left skate went into the toe of my right foot," explained Carriere. It went down and cut in between one of my toes. I had to get a couple of stitches. The cut is deep, but not really deep to severe any tendons. I am really thankful for that. It was kind of scary." Yasuharu Nanri of Japan is right on Carrier's heels with his own personal best of 67.55 (38.70/28.85) points for his Moonlight Sonata routine. The Japanese bronze medalist, who didn't fare well at Skate America, landed a triple Axel, a triple flip-triple toeloop, and a triple Lutz. He also was awarded a level four on all three of his spins, but his final combination spin received a -0.36 GoE. Sergei Davydov of Belarus landed a solid triple Axel in the opening of his routine to music from the Schindler's List soundtrack, but struggled with the landing of his second jump in a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination. The two-time Olympian was also penalized for using the wrong take-off edge on his triple flip. He is currently in fifth place with 66.25 (34.80/34.80) points. Russia's Sergei Dobrin landed a quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination and a triple flip, but stepped out of the landing on a triple Axel. He sits in sixth place with 66.14 (35.44/30.70) points. Kensuke Nakaniwa of Japan is in seventh place (63.70 points), followed by China's Chengjiang Li (63.56 points). Ice Dance (Free Dance)In what was a close competition, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France seized the gold by less than a point. Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir settled for silver, while Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski of Russia took the bronze. Virtue and Moir won the Free Dance (FD) with their stirring routine to to music from the Umbrellas of Cherbourg soundtrack, which tells a story of young love. The 2007 Skate Canada champions were awarded level fours on all elements except for a level three serpentine lift, scoring a new personal best of 100.18 (52.90/47.28) points. Their program was highlighted by matching level four twizzles, difficult lifts, a solid diagonal (+1.40 GoE) and circular (+1.80 GoE) step sequence. With a total score of 196.89, however, the Canadian silver medalists missed the top spot on the podium by a mere 0.26 points. "Tessa and I had a lot of fun out there on the tonight," said Moir. "We've been trying to show the connection in our skating and tried to take the elements one at a time. We felt like we did everything we can do this week. We had a really good OD and Free Program and hope to build on it going into our first Grand Prix Final." Delobel and Schoenfelder entranced the audience with their routine to music from The Piano soundtrack, retelling the story of a mute Scottish pianist who is sold into marriage by her father to a frontiersman in New Zealand. Their dance was highlighted by matching level four twizzles, a beautiful level four curve-rotational lift, and a level three circular step sequence which received +1.40 GoE. However, the 2007 European champions only received a level two for their dance spin and a level three for a serpentine lift, placing second in the FD with 96.91 (49.10/47.81) points. With a total score of 197.54 points, the French champions were able to maintain first overall to win the gold. The team was very happy with the competition as a whole. "We just wanted to skate clean," said Schoenfelder. "The technical level of this competition was very high. We know of course that we still need to improve our technical elements, but I think we have a good program and we'll be able to win the Original and Free Dance once we have the technical elements." Khokhlova and Novitski delivered a good skate in their interpretation of A Night on the Bald Mountain, but the team received a deduction when Khokhlova fell on the final pose. Their routine was highlighted by a straightline-rotational combination lift, a solid midline step sequence, and a very good combination dance spin. Despite the fall at the end, the Russian silver medalists were awarded level fours and positive GoEs on all elements except for a level three circular step sequence (+0.40 GoE), and earned 94.89 (50.70/45.19) points for a third place finish in the FD. "We are satisfied with how we skated today," said Khokhlova. "We felt strong on the ice. We just had a little mistake at the end. Overall it felt easy to skate, easier than at our first Grand Prix event." Sinead Kerr and John Kerr of Great Britain delivered an eclectic, yet entertaining routine to The Landing by Enigma which featured an innovative straightline lift as well as interesting footwork and choreography. The British champions placed fourth in the FD (86.11 points) and overall (172.34 points). Kristin Fraser and Igor Lukanin of Azerbaijan finished fifth overall, followed by USA's Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre. The top three dance teams in this event have now qualified for the Grand Prix Final. They will be sharing ice with USA's Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, Russia's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, and France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat. Ladies (Long Program)Caroline Kostner was the gold medal winner in the Ladies discipline, while Sarah Meier of Switzerland and Nana Takeda of Japan both rose two spots to win silver and bronze, respectively. Meier, who stood in third after the short, opened her routine with a triple Lutz-double toeloop-double loop combination, but then stumbled on a triple flip which was later penalized for use of the wrong take-off edge. She also landed a triple Salchow and a triple toeloop, but doubled a Lutz and was later penalized a second time on a double flip (intended to be a triple) in combination with a double toeloop. The European silver medalist otherwise produced three level four spins and good footwork in her program to music by Tokuhide Niimi, earning 103.45 (47.81/56.64) points for a first place finish. With a total score of 164.69 points, she moved up one spot to second overall. The Swiss champion was proud of the result, but disappointed with her performance. "After my last competition (Trophée Bompard), I have worked a lot on my spins and steps and improved my levels," said Meier. "Now I have to work more on the jumps - most of all on the flip." Performing to Dumsky Trio by Antonin Dvorak, Kostner opened with a triple flip-double toeloop combination, but then fell on her second jump in a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination. She also doubled a flip and a toeloop, and singled her last Axel, but otherwise landed a double Axel-double toeloop combination, a triple Salchow. Despite the mistakes on the jumps, the European champion earned a level three on three of her spins and produced a very good level four spiral and straightline footwork sequence. However, she received a level one on her final combination spit spin in which she traveled a bit on the first half. The 20-year-old wasn't satisfied with her program due to the mistakes on her jumps, but was happy with her spins and footwork. "I tried to be clean on them, and it was rewarded," said Kostner. "Now I need to work on my jumps and to become more consistent and calm." Takeda, who stood in fifth after the short, placed third in the long with a new personal best of 99.77 (53.33/47.44) points. The Japanese skater underrotated and fell on a triple flip (also penalized for the use of the wrong take-off edge) and later fought for the landing of a triple toeloop (in combination with a double toeloop), but otherwise produced four triple jumps. Though Takeda also struggled a bit on a flying sit spin, she earned a level four for her combination change spin and spiral sequence in her routine to Otonal by Raul di Blasio. In the end, Takeda rose from fifth to third place overall with a total score of 154.83 points. The 18-year-old was stunned when she found out she had medalled. "I was ready to go home," said Takeda. " Only when I stood on the podium and saw the flag going up, [did] I realized that I had the bronze medal. I hope to skate well in the future to be able to step on to the podium again in a major competition like that." Lesley Hawker of Canada, who was ninth after the short, finished fourth in the long with 94.02 points. The 26-year-old fell on a triple Lutz and made mistakes on several other triple jumps, but received a level four for two of her spins. She finished seventh overall (139.96 points). Finland's Laura Lepistö placed fifth in the long (91.10 points) and overall (145.58 points). The 2007 Nordics silver medalist produced good spins and footwork, but popped a Lutz and had problems with several other jumps as well. USA's Alissa Czisny fell to sixth overall after placing sixth in the long program. Mai Asada, who stood in 11th place after the short, withdrew from the event due to a high fever. Kostner earned 15 points to add to the 11 she picked up at Cup of China, and has qualified for the Grand Prix Final for the first time. "It means a lot to me," said the Italian champion, "because it will be held in my hometown (Torino). This was something we've worked for from the beginning of the season. It shows that we are on the right way." Meier earned 13 points at this event, but with a total of only 22 points, missed the cutoff for the top six and is now the first substitute. Ando now has 22 points as well, and is the second substitute. The event concludes with the Men's Long Program. |
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