The NHK Trophy continued Saturday in Nagano (JPN) with the Men’s Short Program, the Free Dance and the Ladies Free Skating. The NHK Trophy is the sixth and last event in the Grand Prix series and thus provides the last opportunity for skaters to earn points and to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in St. Petersburg (RUS).
Men, Short Program
In what was an exciting competition at a high level, Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi edged out teammate Nobunari Oda by less than one point to grab the lead in the Men’s Short Program. Chengjiang Li of China finished third.
Takahashi had drawn to skate second out of the 11 competitors. Performing to Peter Tchaikovski’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, he nailed a triple flip-triple toe, a strong triple Axel, a triple Lutz and produced energetic footwork, receiving a level four for his straight line step sequence and a level three for his circular. The Japanese Champion’s spins were also strong, and he earned 84.44 points (46.14/38.30), improving his personal best by 5.64 points. “I’m happy with the result. I was able to stay calm, but I could have been more exciting. I’m happy about my high component score, and tomorrow I want to do the quad and I want to skate without any serious mistakes”, Takahashi said.
Oda opened his elegant routine to “”Fly me to the Moon” with a triple Axel, followed by a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a flying sit spin that was graded a level four by the Technical Panel. The reigning Four Continents Champion also completed a triple flip and two more excellent spins. The Japanese picked up 83.55 points (45.40/38.15), which was also a new personal best for him. “I’m satisfied with my performance, however, my (straight line) step sequence wasn’t very smooth. I was a bit concerned if I’m able to skate well today, so I was a little bit careful”, Oda explained.
Li was the only competitor to land a quadruple-triple toeloop combination. His program to “A World without Thieves” contained also a triple Axel and triple loop, but he got just a level one for his straight line footwork and the flying sit spin. The 2005 Four Continents silver medalist scored 69.26 points (37.36/31.90). “My health is still not good, but it’s a little better. After I withdrew from the Cup of China in Nanjing (November 10) I’ve been training for three days only. I still have a cold and I apologize for not skating better today”, the 27-year-old told the press.
Reigning World Junior Champion Takahiko Kozuka (JPN) is still within striking distance of the podium at 67.95 points. He hit a triple Axel, triple Lutz and just his triple flip-double toeloop was shaky. Kevin van der Perren (BEL) came in fifth (65.55 points) and Alexander Uspenski (RUS) is currently ranked sixth at 64.63 points. They, too, made no major error.
Ice Dancing, Free Dance
The Ice Dancing event concluded with the Free Dance. Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon of Canada skated off with the gold medal. Russia’s Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski captured the silver and Melissa Gregory/Denis Petukhov settled for the bronze medal.
Dubreuil/Lauzon put out a very sophisticated performance to “At Last” by Etta James, producing impressive lifts including a spectacular straight line lift with him skating backwards on one foot and balancing her in front of himself, smooth steps and a level-four combination spin. Lauzon only two-footed a twizzle. The World silver medalists received 97.38 points (48.70 element score/48.68 program component score) and took the title for the second consecutive year with a total of 195.89 points. “Today we were satisfied with our performance. We’ve had a very stressful week in between Skate Canada and this one. We got a new short program (original dance) and didn’t get to practice the free dance, and we’ve changed part of the free dance as well. It was important for us to put out a solid performance before we go on to St. Petersburg to the Final”, Dubreuil said. “In the free dance, we just changed some parts in the last parts to avoid being on two feet and to add difficulty in the linking footwork”, she elaborated.
Khokholova/Novitski’s fast-paced dance to “Aranjuez Mon Amour” featured fluid footwork, a dance spin and interesting lifts that showed off her flexibility. The Russians picked up 91.76 points (48.50/43.26), setting a new personal best for themselves. Overall they got 180.57 points. “We aren’t in Japan for the first time, and we are always well received here, and we’re very pleased to have won our first Grand Prix silver medal here“, Novitski said. “We have mixed feelings. We’re sad that we didn’t make the Grand Prix Final, but on the other hand we’re happy that we skated well here. We’ll continue to work hard. This wasn’t the last competition of the season, and we’ll show our best skating at the European and World Championships”, Khokhlova added.
Gregory/Petukhov completed a level-four circular footwork and innovative lifts including a straight line lift with her standing on his skates and leaning forward in their dramatic program named “Adam and Eve”. The husband-and-wife team scored 89.63 points (47.50/42.13) and collected a total of 177.81. They remained in third place but qualified for the Grand Prix Final. “It was a pleasure to compete here in Japan. It was a really good event. Our performance was also very enjoyable here at this arena. We’re looking forward to improve some technical aspects in our programs”, Petukhov commented. “We had a very good skate here and it was good enough that we get to go to our first Grand Prix Final which we are very excited about”, Gregory added.
Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) came in fourth at 169.49 points with their “Polovetsian Dances”. The 2006 World Junior bronze medalists were the only team to receive a level four for all eight elements of the Free Dance – the spin, the twizzles, the two step sequences and the four lifts. Nozomi Watanabe/ Akiyuki Kido of Japan were ranked fifth. They skated to “Fantasie” by Frederic Chopin (150.27 points).
Dubreuil/Lauzon now advance to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final with the maximum of 30 points. Gregory/Petukhov qualify with 24 points, winning the second tie-breaker (total score) over Khokhlova/ Novitski, who had 4.36 points less in the combined score of both their Grand Prix events.
Ladies, Free Skating
The Japanese Ladies triumphed and swept the podium. Mao Asada took the gold medal, Fumie Suguri claimed the silver, and the bronze went to Yukari Nakano.
The key element for Asada was her triple Axel today. The 16-year-old went for it, but she stepped out of the landing of the jump. Unfazed, she went on to reel off six more triple jumps including a triple flip-triple loop combination and a double Axel-triple toeloop as well as two triple Lutzes. Only the two loops in combination with her (shaky) second Lutz were underrotated and downgraded to singles. The defending Grand Prix Champion also produced a level-three circular footwork and strong spins. Asada earned 130.02 points (70.18 element score/59.84 program component score) and racked up a total score of 199.52 points. This is the highest total score achieved so far in an ISU competition for a Lady. The previous highest score of 198.06 was held by Irina Slutskaya (RUS). “I’m very happy to have won my first gold medal of the season”, Asada told the press. “However, I didn’t succeed the triple Axel perfectly, and I have slight regret about that. I did a single Axel at Skate America, and this time I was able to complete the three rotations, and although the landing wasn’t perfect, I’m happy with it. My other jumps were good.”
Suguri’s program to “Waltz of the Spirits” and “Fantasia” by Karl Jenkins featured a two triple Lutzes (one in combination with double toeloop), two triple flips (one with double toeloop) as well as a triple toeloop and two level-four spins. Her only mistake came when she popped her Salchow. The current World silver medalist took 117.39 points (58.03/59.36) and defended her second place with 179.31 points. “The support of the audience helped me today. I have some issues to overcome. I had difficulty in improving my physical condition and strength before this competition, but it’s getting better with each competition. Now I will train even more before the Japanese Championships”, the 25-year-old commented.
Nakano singled her planned triple Axel in her program to “Cinderella” by Sergei Prokofiev but went on to complete four triples and nice spins to score 104.07 points (48.39/55.68). The defending NHK Trophy Champion finished third this time at 160.93 points. “I didn’t have a good day today, but it’s good that I was able to win a medal”, the Four Continents silver medalist said. “It makes me happy that the Japanese skaters took all medals and that I didn’t make a mistake in my spins like I did yesterday. I also got higher component scores than last year. I did have some mistakes in my jumps and I will work on that.”
Asada and Suguri both qualified for the Grand Prix Final with 26 and 24 points respectively. Nakano has also 24 points overall but is third substitute after the tie breaker.
Beatrisa Liang (USA) finished fourth at 129.32 points and World Junior bronze medalist Christine Zukowski came in fifth at 127.94 points.
The NHK Trophy concludes Sunday with the Men’s Free Skating and the Exhibition Gala.
