| Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Trophée Lalique Day Two |
The Trophée Lalique continued in Paris (FRA) on Friday with the Men, Pairs and Ladies Short Programs and the Original Dance. The Trophée Lalique is the fourth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.
Men, Short Program
The Men started today's competition with their Short Program. Three-time World Champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia took the lead ahead of Todd Eldredge (USA) and Germany's Andrejs Vlascenko. Yagudin opened his entertaining routine "Winter" with a solid quadruple-triple toeloop combination, followed by a triple Axel and a flying sit spin. But then the 21-year-old did a three-turn out of his triple Lutz, stumbled and had to put a hand down on the ice. His marks ranged from 5.5 to 5.8 for required elements and from 5.8 to 5.9 for presentation, which was enough to fend off his competitors. "I'm happy with my performance except for the mistake on the Lutz. I have to pay more attention to it", Yagudin told the press.
Eldredge also did not have an error-free performance. The reigning World bronze medallist landed a triple flip-double toeloop combination, but then touched down with both hands on the triple Axel. In his new "Carmina Burana" program, he completed a triple Lutz out of steps and fast, well-centered spins. "I had a rough skate on the triple Axel. It's the first time I've done this program in competition, it's only a week old", Eldredge said.
Vlascenko produced a clean performance to "Variations on a Theme of Paganini" that featured a triple Axel-double toeloop combination, a triple Lutz, a double Axel, and good spins. "I'm pleased overall. I could have done a triple-triple combination, though. Now I'm in a good position for the free program. We'll wait and see."
China's Min Zhang sits in fourth place while World Junior Champion Johnny Weir (USA) came in fifth.
Ice Dance, Original Dance
2000 World Champions Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat of France strengthened their lead in the Original Dance. Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz (CAN) stayed in second place and Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania in third.
Anissina/Peizerat put in an exciting Flamenco and Tango with many typical moves. The French captured the spirit of both dances very well and also executed intricate footwork. The Judges awarded them marks from 5.6 to 5.8 for composition and the couple received 5.8s, 5.9s and one 6.0 for presentation. "It's a very good sign that the marks for artistic impression are so high at this time of the season", a delighted Peizerat said. "We really studied the Flamenco culture and enjoy this dance a lot. It's interesting to put onto the ice."
Bourne/Kraatz looked very polished in their Flamenco and sassy Tango routine. They too produced strong footwork. "We love these rhythms, they are very entertaining", Bourne explained. "Victor and I picked something less traditional, on the silly side. In each event, our programs have been growing." Bourne/Kraatz already competed at Skate America and Skate Canada.
Drobiazko/ Vanagas also improved their performance since their first Grand Prix competition at Skate America. Their Paso Doble and Flamenco featured an original dance spin. "We are glad about how we did our program today", Vanagas commented. "We had some problems in Colorado Springs (at Skate America), we were a little nervous. Today we succeeded. We also enjoyed to watch the other couples."
Bulgaria's Albena Denkova/Maxim Marinin remained in fourth place, skating an expressive Tango and Flamenco on Maxim's 24th birthday.
Ladies, Short Program
Maria Butyrskaya of Russia won the Short Program with teammate Viktoria Volchkova finishing second and Sasha Cohen (USA) third. Butyrskaya took the lead with a strong performance that featured a triple flip, triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a double Axel, the required spins and steps. Performing to a Russian Movie soundtrack "Tune of the White Nights", the 1999 World Champion took command of the ice as soon as she stepped on to it. Butyrskaya's marks ranged from 5.4 to 5.7 for required elements and from 5.7 to 5.9 for presentation. "That was better than in Germany last week", Butyrskaya said. "I was more relaxed, I don't even know why. Maybe because it was my first Grand Prix event in Germany. I felt less nervous today." Volchkova opened her program to "Moonlight Sonata" with a high triple Lutz-double toeloop followed by a slightly wobbly triple flip. All the other elements were fine, and her marks went up to 5.8 for required elements and up to 5.7 for presentation. "I was a bit nervous today, but I landed all my elements cleanly, and I did my job", Volchkova told the press.
Cohen captivated the crowd with her beautiful spirals and she also completed a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple flip and double Axel to finish third in the first portion of the event. "It's another clean short this season, I've done four so far", a pleased Cohen said. She announced that she will not try the quadruple Salchow in the Free Program, but a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination instead.
World bronze medallist Sarah Hughes (USA) sits in fourth place after she stepped out of the landing of the triple flip. "I just missed it", she shrugged.
Pairs, Short Program
Today's competition concluded with an exciting Pairs event. Two-time World Champions Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sicharulidze of Russia took the Short, while Kyoko Ina/John Zimmerman (USA) stand in second and Tatiana Totmianina/Maxim Marinin (RUS) are in third.
Skating with confidence and precision, Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze hit side by side triple toeloops and also completed a double twist, triple throw loop and lift in their program set to "The Lady Calif". The Russians received 5.7s and 5.8s for required elements and 5.8 to 5.9 for presentation. Sikharulidze injured his arm earlier this month when his partner cut him with her blade in a practice accident. "It's ok now", he said, explaining that the stitches were removed five days ago. "We aren't so ready to compete here, as we weren't able to practice normally for two weeks. The injury broke our schedule and it broke my heart!"
Ina/Zimmerman, who are competing in their third Grand Prix event this season, put in another strong Short Program that included side by side triple toeloops, a triple throw loop and a high double twist. For their sultry blues program to "Shine on you, crazy diamond", the American pair earned marks up to 5.7 for required elements and up to 5.9 for presentation. "We are very relieved", Ina commented. "We've had a good season so far. We showed that we are ready to compete with the great ones."
French Champions Sarah Abitbol/Stephane Bernadis came in fourth place as she stepped out on the triple throw loop. 1999 World bronze medallists Dorota Zagorska/Mariusz Siudek finished in fifth place, after Zagorska fell on the triple toeloop.
The Trophée Lalique continues on Saturday with the Ladies, Men and Pairs Free Programs and the Free Dance.
Results Men FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Alexei YAGUDIN RUS 0.5 1 2 Todd ELDREDGE USA 1.0 2 3 Andrejs VLASCENKO GER 1.5 3 4 Min ZHANG CHN 2.0 4 5 Johnny WEIR USA 2.5 5 6 Emmanuel SANDHU CAN 3.0 6 7 Stephane LAMBIEL SUI 3.5 7 8 Vincent RESTENCOURT FRA 4.0 8 9 Li YUNFEI CHN 4.5 9 10 Yamato TAMURA JPN 5.0 10 11 Frédéric DAMBIER FRA 5.5 11 12 Sergei RYLOV AZE 6.0 12 Ice Dance FPl. Name Nat. Points C1 OD FD 1 Marina ANISSINA / Gwendal PEIZERAT FRA 1.0 1 1 2 Shae Lynn BOURNE / Virtor KRAATZ CAN 2.0 2 2 3 Margarita DROBIAZKO / Povilas VANAGAS LTN 3.0 3 3 4 Albena DENKOVA / Maxim STAVIYSKI BUL 4.0 4 4 5 Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER FRA 5.0 5 5 6 Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO USA 6.4 7 6 7 Swetelana KULIKOWA / Arseny MARKOV RUS 6.6 6 7 8 Chantal LEFEBVRE / JUSTIN LANNING CAN 8.0 8 8 9 Zita GEBORA / Andras VISONTAI HUN 9.0 9 9 10 Rie ARIKAWA / Kenji MIYAMOTO JPN 10.0 10 10 11 Anna MOSENKOVA / Sergei SYCHOV EST 11.0 11 11 Ladies FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Maria BUTYRSKAYA RUS 0.5 1 2 Viktoria VOLCHKOVA RUS 1.0 2 3 Sasha COHEN USA 1.5 3 4 Sarah HUGHES USA 2.0 4 5 Laetitia HUBERT FRA 2.5 5 6 Silvia FONTANA ITA 3.0 6 7 Vanessa GUSMEROLI FRA 3.5 7 8 Anne-Sophie CALVEZ FRA 4.0 8 9 Shizuka ARAKAWA JPN 4.5 9 10 Alisa DREI FIN 5.0 10 11 Nicole WATT CAN 5.5 11 Pairs FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Elena BEREZNAIA / Anton SIKHARULIDZE RUS 0.5 1 2 Kyoko INA / John ZIMMERMAN USA 1.0 2 3 Tatiana TOTMIANINA / Maxim MARININ RUS 1.5 3 4 Sarah ABITBOL / Stéphane BERNADIS FRA 2.0 4 5 Dorota ZAGORSKA / Mariusz SUIDEK POL 2.5 5 6 Jacinthe LARIVIERE / Lenny FAUSTINO CAN 3.0 6 7 Yuko KAWAGUCHI / Alex MARKUNTSOV JPN 3.5 7 8 Marie-Pierre LERAY / Nicolas OSSELAND FRA 4.0 8 R Aljona SAVCHENKO / Stanislas MOROZOV UKR For further information please contact: Aline Bussat Ingwersen, ISU Media Coordinator Tel: +41 21 612 66 66 Fax: +41 21 612 66 77 E-mail: bussat@isu.org or Trophee Lalique Sylvie Fourcade, Press Officer +33 1 44 68 44 35 (press room) E-mail: presse@bercy.fr