Moscow, Russia

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World silver medalists Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov of Russia collected the second Grand Prix gold of their careers at the ISU Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup in Moscow on Saturday. Canadians Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier claimed the silver medal as both ice dance teams qualified for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The bronze went to Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin of Spain.

Sinitsina/Katsalapov turned in a romantic and fluid dance to “Songs My Mother Taught Me” by Antonin Dovrak. The World silver medalists earned a level four for the twizzles, two lifts and the combination spin while the step sequences and the rotational lift garnered a level three. The Russian Champions posted a season’s best of 126.06 points and took the title with 212.15 points overall. 

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov RUS Rostelecom Cup day 2

Sinitsina and Katsalapov dazzled with a romantic routine © International Skating Union

“We’re glad to have overcome the challenge of doing two Grand Prix back to back and we were able to get better scores here at our second event in both Rhythm dance and free dance,” Katsalapov said. “Now we’ll have a little rest and then we’ll get ready for the Grand Prix Final and hope to show our very best there,” he continued.

Gilles/Poirier’s lyrical dance to “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell was highlighted by smooth footwork and lifts. The Skate Canada Champions collected a level four for four elements and scored 125.08 points in the Free Dance for a total of 207.64 points. 

“It’s been five years since we last competed at the Grand Prix Final. In those five years we’ve had a lot of ups and downs in our career. We faced a lot of challenges. And I think in that time we also had a lot of doubts whethere we’d be able to make it back on that stage and really be contenders on the international stage, vying for medal at the World Championships. I think these results just really encourage us,” Poirier said.  

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier CAN Rostelecom Cup day 2Gilles and Poirier qualified for their first Grand Prix Final in five years after winning silver in Moscow © International Skating Union

Hurtado/Khaliavin turned in a crisp Flamenco to “Orobroy” and “Puerto del Sol” and earned a level four for four elements as well to score a season’s best of 113.00 points. The Spanish dancers earned 185.01 points overall to win the second Grand Prix medal of their career after a silver at Rostelecom Cup a year ago. 

”It was a great experience for us to close the competition after such a high level of skating. We want to bring our programs to the point that it deserves and we feel we’re on the right way. We hope that everyone enjoyed our little Spanish presentation here,” Hurtado shared.   

Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin ESP Rostelecom Cup day 2

Hurtadi and Khaliavin reached the podium at Rostelecom Cup for the second year running © International Skating Union

Natalia Kaliszek/Maksym Spodyriev (POL) finished fourth on 178.70 points with at “Dirty Dancing” medley followed by Allison Reed/Saulius Ambruvelicius (LTU) at 175.43 points. Anastasia Shpilevaya/Grigory Smirnov (RUS) placed sixth (172.93 points). 

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Ice Dance.

Overall, 60 skaters/couples representing 19 ISU members compete at Rostelecom Cup November 15-17. The series continues next week with the sixth and final event NHK Trophy in Sapporo (JPN). The top 6 qualifiers of the Grand Prix series in each discipline will proceed to the Final in Turin (ITA), December 5 to 8, 2019. Full entry lists, results, the General Announcement of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series are available on isu.org.

Where to watch and follow the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019?

Viewers will be able to watch the Series either via their national broadcaster / channel and for countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel as of season 2019/20. You will find the full list in the Where to watch news here.

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ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019/20

Skate America - Las Vegas (USA) – October 18 – 20

Skate Canada International – Kelowna (CAN) – October 25 – 27

Internationaux de France – Grenoble (FRA) – Novembre 1 – 3

SHISEIDO cup of China – Chongqing (CHN) – November 8 – 10

Rostelecom Cup – Moscow (RUS) – November 15 – 17

NHK Trophy – Sapporo (JPN) – November 22 – 24

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (Senior & Junior) – Torino (ITA) – December 5 – 8