Russian figure skaters took the lead in pairs and dance competitions at a tournament in Japan, which was their first after a four-year ban. RIA Novosti tells how the tournament in Japan is going well.
Where are the competitors?
If you look at the results of the short program for sports pairs, you can wonder how this type of figure skating has survived without Russian athletes for the last four years. Our three couples take the first three places, the closest pursuers from the USA lose to Anastasia Mukhortova/Dmitry Evgeniev by almost 10 points. This is despite the fact that everyone has, plus or minus, the same technical set with a triple Salchow and ejection for 5-5.3 points of the base cost. That is, the advantage of the Russians was formed due to the higher class of skating and the quality of the elements.
Yes, the strongest foreign competitors did not come to Japan for the tournament, so there is no point in drawing deep conclusions yet. It’s just that for most couples the level of the best Russian athletes remained unattainable even after the entire Olympic cycle of our isolation.
The arrangement among the leaders was a little unexpected. Debutants of adult international competitions Ekaterina Chikmareva/Matvey Yanchenkov with a score of 72.30 points take first place, and experienced titled Alexandra Boykova/Dmitry Kozlovsky with a score of 72.25 are second. It's all about an imperfectly executed triple Salchow - the judges considered Boykova/Kozlovsky's under-rotation by a quarter turn and rejected the jump in the protocols. Chikmareva/Yanchenkov, despite the visible excitement, handled the jump better. But they were practically forgiven for touching with their hand during ejection and were not punished with a reduction in bonuses.
As for Mukhortova/Evgeniev, according to a technical assessment, they would have been first precisely due to the purity of execution, but lost with more modest points in the components.
The fight for medals, including gold, is ahead - the gaps within the top three are symbolic. And we can almost guarantee that the Kinoshita Group Cup gold will go to Russia.
“The feeling is calm, it’s not new for us to perform internationally. We are already at the age when we are interested in the World Championships and Grand Prix Finals. We shouldn’t expect sensational performances now, we haven’t started so early yet. This adds a certain specificity. But we feel comfortable, we are not in a state of euphoria,” Dmitry Kozlovsky told reporters after the performance.
Kaganovskaya is delighted with everything new
In the dance tournament the competition is much higher, and here the Russians already had a hard time in the rhythm dance. Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin from Georgia, who competed for Russia in the last cycle, are in the lead with a score of 79.74 points. Not only 8 years of skating skills and work on rhythm dance with world champion in Argentine tango Dmitry Vasin, but also continuous experience of performing on the international stage speaks in their favor. They, figuratively speaking, have been standing in line all this time for the recognition of judges and the right to receive nines in components. While Vasilisa Kaganovskaya/Maxim Nekrasov, Elizaveta Pasechnik/Dario Chirisano and Ekaterina Mironova/Dmitry Ustenko could only skate at domestic competitions in Russia and are now trying to get into this “queue” by the shortest route. Naturally, experiencing powerful pressure from two sides at once - public expectations and a sense of personal responsibility for oneself and the country.
Mironova/Ustenko made a serious mistake on twizzles and immediately fell to the bottom of the table - 59.55 points leave them no chance to fight for high places in this tournament. Pasechnik/Cirizano skated visually clean, but the judges gave them only the first level for the mandatory element “golden waltz” - this means only one counted point (step) out of four prescribed. They are currently in sixth place with a score of 71.02 points.
The best performance among Russian dancers was by Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Maxim Nekrasov. Their rhythm dance is set to the music of Saint-Saëns "Dance of Death". The intermediate second place and a score of 74.21 points is partly the merit of the duet, partly the lucky final starting number, when all the competitors had already performed and the judges could not restrain themselves.
“Today, two of my dreams came true: to visit Japan and compete at international competitions,” Kaganovskaya said. “I am very happy. I can’t convey the feeling when you are no longer announced in Russian. This is a responsibility,” Kaganovskaya told reporters.
Vasilisa and Maxim were given the second level for the golden waltz pattern. This, on the one hand, is not enough, but in fact, no one was awarded the third and fourth levels at the Kinoshita Group Cup. Usually, dancers' pattern scores increase as the season progresses, when athletes and coaches finally manage to understand what exactly the judges want from them. This element of compulsory dance has very complex performance criteria and equally difficult criteria for setting technical levels. In free dance, duets will have more freedom for self-expression and opportunities to get decent scores.
Kinoshita Group Cup
Pairs, short program
1. Ekaterina Chikmareva – Matvey Yanchenkov (Russia) – 72.30
2. Alexandra Boykova - Dmitry Kozlovsky (Russia) - 72.25
3. Anastasia Mukhortova - Dmitry Evgeniev (Russia) - 70.81
4. Valentina Plazas – Maximiliano Fernandez (USA) – 61.15
5. Chelsea Liu – Ryan Bidard (USA) – 58.88
6. Kamil Kovaleva - Pavel Kovalev (France) - 51.74
7. Regan Moss – Yakub Galbawi (USA) – 51.52
8. Nim Davison – Daniel Borisov (Great Britain) – 39.11
Ice dancing
Rhythm dance
1. Diana Davis - Gleb Smolkin (Georgia) - 79.74
2. Vasilisa Kaganovskaya - Maxim Nekrasov (Russia) - 74.21
3. Natalie Tashlerova – Filip Tashler (Czech Republic) – 73.79
4. Utana Yoshida – Masaya Morita (Japan) – 71.50
5. Noemi Maria Tali - Noa Lafornara (Italy) - 71.09
6. Elizaveta Pasechnik – Dario Chirisano (Russia) – 71.02
7. Ikura Kushida – Koshiro Shimada (Japan) – 64.86
8. Rika Kihira – Shingo Nishiyama (Japan) – 61.37
9. Ekaterina Andreeva - Dmitry Blinov (Belarus) - 59.61
10. Ekaterina Mironova – Evgeniy Ustenko (Russia) – 59.55
11. Kaho Yamashita – Yuto Nagata (Japan) – 55.13
