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2008 Russian Nationals - Figure Skating HighlightsFree Dance, Pairs Long, and Men's LongJan 7, 2008
The 2008 Russian National Figure Skating Championships concluded with the Free Dance (FD), the Pairs Long Program, and the Men's Long Program. Ice Dance (Free Dance)Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski dominated the field throughout the entire event to win their first national title, while Ekaterina Rubleva and Ivan Shefer won their first silver. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev put a comfortable distance between themselves and the rest of the competitors to win the bronze medal with a 12 point advantage. In the Free Dance (FD), Khokhlova (22) and Sergei Novitski (26) earned a level four on all their elements and gained impressive grades of execution (GOE) on their opening serpentine lift. Their routine to Night on the Bald Mountain was very well received by the audience and they only increased the tempo and power as the dance progressed. The students of Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin scored 106.04 (55.35/50.69) in the free dance and 212.82 points overall. "We were very happy with the way the audience received us here in St. Petersburg," said Novitski. "It's always a pleasure to perform here. On the eve of the Orthodox Christmas the people here are all in a festive mood and are very responsive."
Their goal now is to improve their Compulsory Dance before the European Figure Skating Championships in next month. "It was the first time that we performed the Yankee Polka this season," explained Novitski, "and it isn't up to the European level. Naturally, we would also continue to polish our Original and free dances." Rubleva (22) and Shefer (24) delivered a smooth and intricate dance to Prayer in the Night in which all elements were graded a level four except for their two step sequences and a serpentine lift. They earned 91.21 (48.24/42.97) for a second place finish in the FD and overall (183.75 points). "We are very happy to qualify for the European Championships again and to preserve our place on the national championships podium," said Rubleva. "Our main task in preparation to Zagreb (Europeans) would be to improve our speed in all the dances." Bobrova (17) and Soloviev (18) finished third in the FD with 90.33 (49.61/40.72) for a third place finish overall (178.35 points). The team earned a level 4 on all their elements expect a diagonal step sequence, and finally performed the dance without any technical glitches. "We are very happy with the way we skated today," said Bobrova. "Unfortunately, we had some errors yesterday in the Original Dance, but today was by far the best we ever skated our free dance in competition. We hoped to win a medal and we are very happy that we did it." The team shared that they had been receiving a lot of feedback. "Mostly positive," said Bobrova, "but some negative one as well. Now we know what we have to work at." Natalia Mikhailova (21) and Andrei Maximishin (23) preserved their fourth place overall (167.03 points) despite placing fifth in the FD with 81.23 (42.80/39.43) points. The students of Alexander Zhulin performed a dance to Peter Gabriel's The Feeling Begins which uncannily resembled the dance Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov (former students of Zhulin) performed in 2003. Despite certain stylistic similarities, however, the level of their skating isn't yet as good as that of the 2006 Olympic Champions. Both their step sequences were once again graded only a level 2, nonetheless, the team made a pleasant impression which featured solid basic skating skills and nice lines. Anastasia Platonova (21) and Alexander Grachev (23) placed fourth in the FD, but were fifth overall with 166.58 points. The team delivered an upbeat program to Latin rhythms, earning a level 4 on all elements except for their diagonal step sequence. Both skaters clearly enjoy performing for the public and Platonova especially seems to be a much more expressive skater in the new partnership. They received 86.69 (48.04/38.65) points. Senior grand prix competitors Yulia Zlobina (18) and Alexei Sitnikov (21) finished sixth in all dances and overall. Pairs (Long Program)
Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov won the gold medal at their first ever Russian National Championships, while Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov settled for silver. Arina Ushakova and Sergei Karev rose from sixth to third overall to win the bronze. Kawaguchi (26) and Smirnov (23) opened their Love Story routine with a hard fall on a throw quadruple salchow attempt and Kawaguchi slightly dislocated her shoulder. The Japanese skater was determined to skate through the pain, but Smirnov wouldn't allow it. He knew that skaters are allowed to interrupt their program in case of injury for a two minute pause to fix whatever is wrong. "I saw that Yuko had trouble raising her hand, and even though she was determined to go on, I realized that she would not be able to perform other elements if she couldn't use her hand properly," Smirnov later explained. The pause allowed time for Kawaguchi to fix her shoulder and the pair proceed to skate their program from the point of interruption. The students of Tamara Moskvina were almost flawless, performing a sequence of two triple toeloops, a triple twist, and a throw triple loop, but Smirnov turned out the landing of his jump in the side-by-side double Axels. Most of their non-jumping elements were graded level four, and the team earned 124.30 (65.15/60.16) points for a first place finish in the long and overall (190.60 points). "We are very happy to skate here in St. Petersburg," said Kawaguchi. "The audience received us very well. I think nowhere in the world do the people root so much for their local skaters as they do in St. Petersburg. They did, however, put additional pressure on us as we felt obliged to skate very well for them." Murkhortova (22) and Trankov (24) opened their program with a side-by-side triple toeloop-double toeloops and a triple twist, but then Mukhortova doubled her jump on the side-by-side triple Salchows while Trankov fell on his. The defending champions were visibly upset about the mistake, but fought through the rest of the program, delivering two flawless triple throws - a loop and a Salchow. Their step sequence was once again graded onlya level two and they received a level three for the pair combination spin and death spiral. The students of Oleg Vasiliev placed second in the long with 117.91 (59.53/59.38) points and overall with 180.17 points. The team had mixed feelings about their results. "On one hand, we won the silver medal and now we have one of each medals - bronze, gold and silver," said Trankov. "It wasn't unexpected for us, we thought that we might be second here. I think the performances here were the worst we did this season, but they were not the worst we have had over the course of the last two seasons, so we are not that much upset about it." "In a way it's a debut," Trankov continued. "It's the first time in five years that I've fallen in the long program. We still have made a lot of progress in the recent months, and while these performances were a bit of step back, I think we would be able to make two steps forward from this point." Ushakova (18) and Karev (31) delivered a flawless performance, earning 109.29 (56.33/52.96) points for a third place finish and overall 163.21 points). The students of Natalia Pavlova landed side-by-side double Axels, a side-by-side triple toeloop-double loop sequence, a throw triple Salchow, and a throw triple loop. While their lifts were solid, they were mostly graded a level three, and some of their elements were even graded a level one. "I'm very happy to skate here in St. Petersburg," said Ushakova. "It's the first time I competed here. A couple of seasons ago, Sergei competed at Nationals here with his previous partner (Daria Kazutchiz), and I often heard good words about the St. Petersburg public and now I know that it's true." The team had a coaching change as well last season, joining Natalia Pavlova's group. "I think we are a completely different team now than we were last season," said Ushakova. "Then we were fourth at Nationals. Now we are more expressive, with better technical elements. We have a better understanding of our programs now rather than simply doing the required elements." Lubov Illushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze placed fourth in the long with 102.88 (53.79/49.09) points and moved up to fourth overall with 157.83 points. Illyushina singled a double toeloop in a triple toeloop-double toeloop combination and the catch of their triple twist was slightly flawed. Otherwise, the team was very strong and expressive, performing a throw triple flip and throw triple loop, as well as side-by-side double Axels. However, their death spiral and straighline step sequence were graded only a level one. Ksenia Krasilnikova (16) and Konstantin Bezmaternykh (19) finished fifth in the long with 102.05 (54.02/49.03) points, slipping to fifth overall with a total score of 157.52 points. Their routine to Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian seemed rather uninspired and the 2007-08 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists opted to do only double Lutzes for their side-by-side jumps. Krasilnikova also fell on a throw triple loop. Vera Bazarova (14) and Yuri Larinov (21) slipped to sixth place overall (148.73 points) after placing sixth in the long with 91.26 (44.10/48.16) points. The team attempted to do side-by-side triple Salchows, an element which they have never previously attempted at competition, but Bazarova fell out of an underrotated jump while Larionov popped his into a double. The mistake threw the 2007-08 Junior Grand Prix champions off their game and they made mistakes on other crucial elements: Bazarova put both hands down on throw triple flip landing, stepped out of her first jump in a side-by-side double Axel-double Axel sequence, and fell on a throw triple loop. Men (Long Program)
Sergei Voronov won his first national title after an inspiring long program set to tango music by Astor Piazzolla. The student of Alexei Urmanov opened with a solid quadruple toeloop (which earned him an additional 2.00 bonus from the RFSF) and proceed to land two triple Axels (one in combination with double toeloop), two triple toeloops, and one triple loop. Voronov's only mistake was to double a planned triple Salchow, but his spins and step sequences were strong and very expressive. The 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard silver medalist gained 152.09 (73.45/76.64) points for a first place finish in the long, and subsequently won the competition with a total score of 231.07 points - nearly a 30-point margin. "I was very tired today and it was very hard to skate the program," admitted Voronov. "I almost felt like stopping in the middle of it because I had no strength left." "Of course I am very happy to win here," continued the 20-year-old, "but I have to say that Andrei Lutai also skated well. I drew to skate right after him, so I saw a part of his performance and I heard his marks and I knew I had to be 100% today. Voronov also revealed that he's currently working on his triple flip and triple Lutz. "They are not yet consistent enough to put them in the program," he said, "but hopefully I can get them back before Europeans." Andrei Lutai finished second in free skate with and won silver - his first national. He opened his Tosca program with a strong triple Axel, but then had to fight for the landing of a quadruple toeloop. He also landed a triple Axel-double toeloop combination and three more triple jumps, but doubled a flip and stepped out of the landing of a triple Salchow. The student of Alexei Mishin was obviously tired during the second half of the program, and appeared to focus on landing his jumps, so his spins seemed rather weak and he only remembered to present his program during the most dramatic parts of the music. He earned 140.47 (66.65/71.82) points (plus a two point bonus for aa clean quadruple jump), and 202.79 points overall. "I skated well," said Lutai. "I coped with me nerves and performed well. It wasn't perfect, but it was well done. On one hand I'm a bit disappointed to be second, but on the other, it means that I have preserved my position on the national podium, so it's good enough." The 21-year-old wasn't aware of the bonuses that RFSF proposed for quads until after he learned that Voronov received one in his Short Program. "If I knew about them beforehand, I would have went for a quadruple-triple combination in the short," shared Lutai. "But I thought it would be better to play it safe here. Anyway, I will [attempt] the quad combination at Europeans." Defending champion Andrei Griazev had to settle for the bronze medal this year. After a shaky short program, the Muscovite was eager to prove his worth and went for two quadruple attempts in his free skate to music from the Godfather soundtrack. Unfortunately, both were unsuccessful. The 2007 Cup of Russia bronze medalist popped his opening quad to a double. He later underrotated more than half of a turn on his second quad attempt that resulted in a crash. He otherwise landed two strong triple Axels - one in combination with a triple toeloop- and three more triple jumps. He earned 131.06 (62.28/70.78) points for a third place finish in the long and overall (195.12 points). "I really wanted to land a quad today, but I failed," said the 22-year-old. "On the positive side, I have to say that otherwise my program has been pretty strong. I didn't allow the mistake on the opening element to affect the [rest of the] performance." Konstantin Menshov pulled up to fourth place overall despite finishing sixth in the short and fifth in the free. The student of Evgeny Rukavitsyn opened his program with a clean quadruple toeloop-double toeloop combination jump followed by another quadruple toeloop in which he stepped out of the landing. He also did a clean triple flip and triple Salchow, but doubled a loop and fell on an overrotated triple toeloop at the end of the program. Additionally, the 24-year-old had problems with his planned combination jump: after he stepped out of a triple Lutz landing, he tacked on a triple toeloop but the judging panel didn't count it as a combination jump. The 2007 Coupe de Nice silver medalist earned 118.80 (52.56/64.24 +2.00 bonus) points and 181.39 total. Alexander Uspenski finished sixth in free program with 117.64 (54.28/65.36) points and fifth overall (180.96 points). The 20-year-old crashed on his opening quadruple toeloop, doubled a planned triple Axel, and fell on a triple loop. The student of Marina Kudryavsteva was obviously exhausted after the first two minutes of his program and appeared to struggle through the rest of his routine. His younger brother Vladimir was seventh in the long program with 114.75 (54.33/60.42) points, but sixth overall (178.60 points). The 18-year-old opened his program with strong triple Axel and later landed three more triple jumps, but he doubled a triple Lutz and put his hand down on the landing of a triple loop. Ivan Bariev, who stood in 10th after the short, placed fourth in the long even though he only landed four clean triple jumps - none of which were a triple Axel. However, the 16-year-old presented his Flamenco well, showing strong spins and expressive step sequences, and earned 119.32 (58.82/60.50) points. He subsequently moved up to seventh place overall with 176.87 points. The preliminary line-up for the European Figure Skating Championships is as follows: Kawaguchi/Smirnov, Mukhortova/Trankov, Ushakova/Karev, Voronov, Lutai, Domnina/Shabalin, Khokhlova/Novitski, Rubleva/Shefer, Doronina, Petushkova. At press time, however, this line-up has yet to be finalized by the RFSF Council. |
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Jana Khokhlova (22) and Sergei Novitski (26) dominated the field throughout the entire event to win their first national title.
Yuko Kawaguchi (26) and Alexander Smirnov (23) won the gold medal at their first ever Russian National Championships.
Sergei Voronov, 20, won his first national title after an inspiring performance in the long program.