NAGOYA, Japan — Japan’s Mone Chiba emerged because the shock chief within the girls’s quick program on the determine skating Grand Prix Remaining after a number of favorites stumbled Friday.
Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto and defending Grand Prix Remaining champion Amber Glenn made expensive errors on their opening jumps and completed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Skating final and realizing she had a golden alternative to take the lead, Chiba appeared nervous at the beginning of her routine however settled right down to land a triple flip-triple toe loop mixture, a double axel and a triple lutz for 77.27 factors.
World champion Alysa Liu of the USA was second with 75.79 adopted by Ami Nakai of Japan with 73.91.
“I used to be very nervous at the beginning,” Chiba mentioned. “However I used to be in a position to land all three jumps and do my spins and steps, so I be ok with my skate.”
Liu landed a triple flip, a double axel and a triple lutz-triple loop mixture and mentioned she was happy along with her efficiency.
“I had a objective going into the quick program,” Liu mentioned, “to do a greater triple loop than my different companions and to breathe all through.”
Sakamoto may handle solely a double lutz on her opening soar and completed in fifth place with 69.40 factors.
“Greater than feeling the strain, I really feel like I defeated myself,” mentioned an emotional Sakamoto, who will retire after this season. “I’ll go into the free program tomorrow with nothing to lose.”
Defending champion Glenn had a single axel on her opening soar as an alternative of a triple and was sixth with 66.85 factors. Glenn accomplished the triple cleanly in follow however could not pull it off in competitors.
Friday’s end result additional underscored that there was no clear favourite heading towards the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
Additional complicating prospects was the Worldwide Skating Union permitting Russian skaters to compete in Milan Cortina as neutrals however solely within the males’s and ladies’s competitions. They embody 18-year-old Adeliia Petrosian and Petr Gumennik.
Petrosian has gained two straight nationwide titles and is unbeaten over the previous two seasons, profitable eight straight home occasions. Petrosian has been touchdown triple axels and quads in competitors whereas no different lady has completed so constantly this yr.
In pairs, world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan held on to their slim lead from the quick program to win the gold medal regardless of a few errors within the free skate.
The hometown favorites completed second within the free skate however first general with 225.21 factors.
“We tried to not suppose an excessive amount of about profitable the title,” Kihara mentioned. “Our coach instructed us simply attempt to keep true to our program.”
Italians Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii have been second with 223.28 adopted by Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin with 221.25. They moved to 3rd from fifth place.
The competitors ends with the free skate for women and men on Saturday.
Leave a Reply