Cup of Russia in St. Petersburg, Russia, kicked off on Friday with the Compulsory Dance (Westminster Waltz) and the Short Programs for Ladies, Pairs and Men.

Ice Dance

The ice dancers opened the competition with the Westminster Waltz. World silver medallists Barbara Fusar Poli/Maurizio Margaglio (ITA) took the lead in spite of a slight slip by Fusar Poli. "The Waltz is not our favorite compulsory dance, but it was okay", she said. Russian Champions Irina Lobacheva/Ilia Averbukh are competing in their first Grand Prix competition of this season, since they had to withdraw from Skate Canada due to illness. Their Waltz was smooth although they held back a little. "This is our first competition, and the first one is always very difficult. All our competitors have already competed and presented themselves to the judges, while we had to cancel Skate Canada. So it is difficult for us to get into it now. We were very nervous because of that", explained Averbukh. The Russians placed second, ahead of Israel's Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovski. "It was fifty/fifty today", commented Sakhnovski on their Waltz. "We could have done better, but we are happy with the placement. Our goal for the Original Dance is to go forward, of course."

Ladies

First to skate in the Short Program was Sarah Hughes. The 15 year old American delivered a solid if somewhat slow performance to "Vocalise" by Sergei Rachmaninov that included a double axel, a triple lutz-double toeloop (not landed completely backwards) and a triple flip. Hughes, silver medallist in both of her previous Grand Prix events - Skate America and the Sparkassen Cup - placed third overall, but the judges were divided between her and Elena Sokolova (RUS). Sokolova took to the ice right after Hughes. In her dynamic "Gypsy Dance" (from the ballet "Don Quixote"), she hit the triple lutz-double toeloop combination, a high triple loop and double axel out of a spread eagle. "This was much better than at Skate America" (her first Grand Prix event), said Sokolova. "I really felt the support of the audience, and it helped me." Hughes was also pleased with her skating. "I felt like I skated faster than in Germany. The program keeps getting better", she explained.

World Silver Medalist Irina Slutskaya (RUS) topped her two main competitors. The Muscovite nailed her trademark triple lutz-double loop combination and a high triple flip. She sparkled from the first second of her program to the last and took first place ordinals from all seven judges. "I felt more confident than at Skate Canada, because this is my second competition", Slutskaya said. To her, it doesn't make a difference whether she skates at home in Russia, or abroad. "When I go out there and skate, it doesn't matter to me if I'm in Russia or elsewhere. I just focus on my program and my elements." Sasha Cohen (USA) didn't make any big mistakes and she now sits in fourth place before the decisive Free Program.

Pairs

Russia's Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikhuralidze took the lead in the Short Program on their home turf. The two-time World Champions completed a clean program at high speed to the Russian folk song "Meadowlands". The team landed side by side triple toeloops, a triple throw loop and impressed with beautiful lines and spirals, scoring marks up to 5,9 for required elements and for presentation. The current World silver medallists from China, Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao, also produced a clean program to "Allegretto". They completed excellent side by side triple toeloops and a high double twist, but the landing of the triple throw loop looked shaky. "We feel really good about that performance", Zhao said. Sitting in third, are Poland's Dorota Zagorska/ Mariusz Siudek. The husband and wife team pulled off a clean program with side by side triple toeloops, a throw triple salchow and a difficult lift.

Men

Evgeni Plushenko(RUS) started his second Grand Prix competition like his first one with a clear win in the Short Program. The 18-year old European Champion produced a flawless program that featured a quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, a triple axel, a triple lutz out of steps, which were incredibly quick. His performance to Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" got him mostly 5.9s for both required elements and presentation. "The quality of the program was about the same as it was in Germany (at the Sparkassen Cup last week)", said Plushenko. "I really like to skate at home and I enjoyed the support of the audience", added the skater, who lives and trains in St. Petersburg. "My parents didn't come, they watched the competition at home, on TV. They never come to see me skating live, it's like a tradition already."

Matthew Savoie (USA) was a surprising second, upsetting his more experienced competitors. The American landed all his jumps cleanly, but lacked speed overall. "My main goal was to skate clean, and that's what I accomplished", he commented. "I feel good about how I skated and placing well makes it all the better." Ivan Dinev (BUL) opened his program with a slightly two-footed quadruple toeloop and went on to do a triple axel-double toeloop combination in his program to music by Afro Celt Sound System. "It wasn't perfect", Dinev acknowledged. "I didn't land the quadruple toeloop cleanly on one foot, and I wanted to do triple axel-triple toe. Hopefully I'll skate better tomorrow." Dinev is still skating with the new blade he got when his original blade broke during the warm up for the Free Skating at the Sparkassen Cup in Germany last week. Russia's Ilia Klimkin pulled off a shaky quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, but fell on the triple flip later on. He finished fourth in the Short Program. World

Bronze Medallist Michael Weiss, who had been sidelined because of a stress fracture in his left foot earlier this season, finished a disappointing sixth. The US-Champion fell on his quadruple toeloop attempt and singled a planned triple axel.

Cup of Russia continues Saturday with the Pairs, Ladies and Men Free Programs and the Original Dance.

For further information please contact:
Grand Prix of Figure Skating & Final					Cup of Russia 
Aline Bussat Ingwersen ISU Media Coordinator			Vladimir Rausch, Press Officer
+41 21 612 66 66							+7 812 301 95 86
E-mail: bussat@isu.ch 

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