ISU World Champions Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov of Russia danced into a confident lead in the Rhythm Dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup in Sochi (RUS). Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri finished second ahead of Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen of Canada.
Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) lead after the Pairs Rhythm Dance at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - Rostelecom Cup © International Skating Union (ISU)
Sinitsina/Katsalapov put out a lively performance to “You Can Leave Your Hat On” and “Brickhouse”, completing intricate footwork and a rotational lift. The Midnight Blues, his twizzles and pattern dance step sequence garnered a level four while the lift and midline step were rated a level three. The 2021 World Champions achieved a season’s best of 86.81 points.
“We are pleased with our performance today, but it was not at 100 percent yet and there is a huge amount of things for us to work on,” Sinitsina told the post-event press conference.
“We are happy to have a season’s best. We went out with a positive mindset and the spectators were very welcoming and it was a great atmosphere at the rink,” she continued.
Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA) sit in second place but have mixed feelings about their performance © International Skating Union (ISU)
Guignard/Fabbri’s dance to songs by Michael Jackson was highlighted by a straight line lift and fluid steps. The 2019 European bronze medalists picked up a level four for the lift and her twizzles to earn 79.56 points.
“We have contrasting feelings about this performance,” Fabbri admitted. “Overall we felt we skated much better here than at Skate Canada and we improved the performance.
“Unfortunately we had some problems with the twizzles, that’s why we lost some points there and we are a little disappointed about this mistake.”
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN) danced to a George Michael medley at the Rostelecom Cup © International Skating Union (ISU)
Fournier Beaudry/Soerensen delivered a smooth performance to a George Michael medley, collecting a level four for the stationary lift and the twizzles. The 2021 Skate America bronze medalists scored 76.39 points.
“It felt pretty good today, but it wasn’t perfect. We’re still trying to find our way through the short dance, navigating how to dance throughout. We definitely improved on the performance a lot in general and also on the technical side since Skate America,” Soerensen said.
Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin (ESP) are not far behind in fourth place at 75.95 points. Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker (USA) are currently ranked fifth (73.72 points) while Anastasia Skoptcova/Kirill Aleshin (RUS) came sixth (71.95 points).
For full results, click here
