2010 Skate America

The 2010/2011 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues this Friday with Skate America in Portland, Oregon. Skate America is the fourth of six events in the series. The skaters compete for a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and the top six skaters/couples will advance to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

Reigning World Champion Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) is looking to secure his spot in the Final after winning the NHK Trophy last month. Competition should be tough with Skate Canada silver medalist Nobunari Oda (JPN), and 2010 Four Continents Champion and Skate Canada bronze medalist Adam Rippon. 2010 World Junior silver medalist Nan Song (CHN) debuts at the senior Grand Prix. Other competitors include Kevin van der Perren (BEL), Shawn Sawyer (CAN), Adrian Schultheiss (SWE) and Armin Mahbanoozadeh (USA).

Two-time World Champions Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER) are entering their first Grand Prix event of the season. The main challenge should come from 2010 World Junior Champions Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN) who just took the silver at the Cup of China last week. Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch (CAN) are hoping for another podium finish after taking the silver at Skate Canada. Also competing are Caydee Denney/Jeremy Barrett (USA) and World Junior bronze medalists Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS).

Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) headline the dance event and want to book their ticket to the Grand Prix Final. Skate Canada Champions Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier (CAN), NHK Trophy silver medalists Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN) and NHK Trophy bronze medalists Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) are aiming at a podium finish and have chances to qualify for the Final. Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Tkachenko (RUS) compete in their first Grand Prix this season.

Three-time European Champion Carolina Kostner (ITA) leads the Ladies competition and wants to assure her spot in the Final after taking the gold at NHK Trophy. She'll meet NHK Trophy silver medalist Rachael Flatt (USA) and NHK Trophy bronze medalist, World Junior Champion Kanako Murakami (JPN) again. Other competitors include Skate Canada bronze medalist Amelie Lacoste (CAN), Elene Gedevanishvili (GEO) and Caroline Zhang (USA).

The full list of entries is available at www.isu.org

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Nobunari ODA JPN 79.28 39.60 39.68 8.32 7.54 8.00 7.93 7.89 0.00 #12
2 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 78.12 35.69 42.43 8.43 8.14 8.61 8.57 8.68 0.00 #11
3 Adam RIPPON USA 73.94 36.83 37.11 7.39 7.11 7.43 7.57 7.61 0.00 #9
4 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH USA 67.61 37.05 30.56 6.21 5.82 6.21 6.18 6.14 0.00 #2
5 Daisuke MURAKAMI JPN 67.01 36.26 30.75 6.25 5.75 6.36 6.21 6.18 0.00 #1
6 Denis TEN KAZ 64.50 32.50 33.00 6.61 6.36 6.64 6.68 6.71 1.00 #7
7 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 63.71 32.21 31.50 6.43 6.11 6.25 6.46 6.25 0.00 #8
8 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 62.22 30.12 32.10 6.75 6.00 6.43 6.46 6.46 0.00 #10
9 Nan SONG CHN 62.21 31.23 30.98 6.54 5.75 6.29 6.11 6.29 0.00 #6
10 Stephen CARRIERE USA 59.14 27.17 32.97 6.50 6.29 6.64 6.79 6.75 1.00 #4
11 Shawn SAWYER CAN 56.94 24.63 33.31 6.57 6.36 6.71 6.71 6.96 1.00 #5
12 Viktor PFEIFER AUT 55.01 26.82 28.19 5.75 5.29 5.68 5.68 5.79 0.00 #3

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 63.99 32.84 31.15 7.96 7.57 7.75 7.86 7.79 0.00 #8
2 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 61.64 35.33 26.31 6.64 6.25 6.75 6.57 6.68 0.00 #2
3 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 58.49 32.46 26.03 6.68 6.11 6.79 6.43 6.54 0.00 #7
4 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 57.53 32.02 25.51 6.21 6.14 6.54 6.46 6.54 0.00 #6
5 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV RUS 53.73 30.67 23.06 6.04 5.50 5.79 5.79 5.71 0.00 #3
6 Felicia ZHANG / Taylor TOTH USA 48.13 26.82 21.31 5.39 4.96 5.50 5.36 5.43 0.00 #1
7 Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR USA 47.24 26.50 22.74 6.00 5.32 5.64 5.75 5.71 2.00 #4
8 Stacey KEMP / David KING GBR 42.00 22.60 19.40 4.96 4.68 4.79 5.04 4.79 0.00 #5

Oda leads men at Skate America - by Anne M. Peterson, Deseret News

Oda tops leaderboard after men's short: Takahashi second; Rippon third - by Lynn Rutherford, IceNetwork News

Savchenko, Szolkowy eke out slim lead: Rising Canadians are second; Denney, Barrett third - by Lynn Rutherford, IceNetwork News

Germans lead after the short: Skate America first day review with current standings - Source, World Figure Skating

I just watched Kanako (2nd SP), the poka dot girl, and she looked great. So fast. She's becoming my 3rd fav after Miki & Mao.

Bill508 wrote:

I just watched Kanako (2nd SP), the poka dot girl, and she looked great. So fast. She's becoming my 3rd fav after Miki & Mao.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3AwrhH0qA4

Thanks for sharing this! I was too busy today that I missed it. I totally agree. She skates with a lot of speed and energy.

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 60.28 30.48 29.80 7.61 7.18 7.50 7.43 7.54 0.00 #12
2 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 54.75 27.55 27.20 6.68 6.54 6.96 6.86 6.96 0.00 #8
3 Joshi HELGESSON SWE 51.17 27.68 23.49 5.93 5.57 6.04 5.96 5.86 0.00 #7
4 Rachael FLATT USA 51.02 24.28 26.74 6.71 6.43 6.86 6.64 6.79 0.00 #11
5 Caroline ZHANG USA 50.66 25.80 24.86 6.18 6.07 6.18 6.32 6.32 0.00 #9
6 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 50.55 25.16 25.39 6.39 6.04 6.43 6.43 6.46 0.00 #5
7 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 48.27 28.29 19.98 5.29 4.61 5.11 5.04 4.93 0.00 #1
8 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 45.27 20.41 25.86 6.61 6.25 6.43 6.57 6.46 1.00 #10
9 Alexe GILLES USA 44.86 24.72 21.14 5.39 4.96 5.32 5.43 5.32 1.00 #3
10 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR 44.41 24.58 20.83 5.36 4.89 5.18 5.32 5.29 1.00 #2
11 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 42.87 20.64 22.23 5.82 5.21 5.68 5.57 5.50 0.00 #6
12 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 41.91 19.86 23.05 5.89 5.50 5.75 5.89 5.79 1.00 #4

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CC IT Ded.
- StN.

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 63.62 30.00 33.62 8.29 8.29 8.25 8.54 8.58 0.00 #9
2 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 60.41 30.92 29.49 7.29 7.25 7.42 7.46 7.42 0.00 #8
3 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 59.48 32.42 27.06 6.63 6.58 6.92 6.79 6.88 0.00 #7
4 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 56.46 30.08 26.38 6.63 6.42 6.63 6.71 6.58 0.00 #6
5 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO RUS 55.52 28.49 27.03 6.71 6.58 6.88 6.75 6.83 0.00 #3
6 Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT USA 52.13 29.83 22.30 5.50 5.38 5.75 5.54 5.67 0.00 #1
7 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR 49.43 28.17 21.26 5.25 5.21 5.38 5.33 5.38 0.00 #4
8 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 44.40 23.43 21.97 5.54 5.38 5.54 5.54 5.46 1.00 #5
9 Stefanie FROHBERG / Tim GIESEN GER 44.03 25.24 18.79 4.71 4.58 4.79 5.00 4.46 0.00 #2

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 148.95 64.95 85.00 8.46 8.29 8.46 8.61 8.68 1.00 #11
2 Nobunari ODA JPN 146.81 68.17 79.64 8.29 7.71 7.89 8.04 7.89 1.00 #12
3 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH USA 143.56 73.62 69.94 7.04 6.71 7.11 7.07 7.04 0.00 #9
4 Daisuke MURAKAMI JPN 135.99 68.83 68.16 6.93 6.50 6.93 6.86 6.86 1.00 #8
5 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 132.41 69.87 62.54 6.64 5.64 6.46 6.32 6.21 0.00 #5
6 Shawn SAWYER CAN 129.68 63.10 66.58 6.54 6.46 6.79 6.64 6.86 0.00 #2
7 Adam RIPPON USA 129.18 57.94 72.24 7.36 7.04 7.11 7.43 7.18 1.00 #10
8 Stephen CARRIERE USA 125.06 62.28 63.78 6.39 6.11 6.43 6.57 6.39 1.00 #3
9 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 124.49 60.21 64.28 6.61 6.18 6.46 6.46 6.43 0.00 #6
10 Nan SONG CHN 117.89 60.55 58.34 6.21 5.39 5.82 5.86 5.89 1.00 #4
11 Denis TEN KAZ 111.61 54.69 61.92 6.43 6.00 5.89 6.43 6.21 5.00 #7
12 Viktor PFEIFER AUT 107.46 53.02 55.44 5.68 5.25 5.61 5.57 5.61 1.00 #1



FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI
JPN
227.07 2 1
2 Nobunari ODA
JPN
226.09 1 2
3 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH
USA
211.17 4 3
4 Adam RIPPON
USA
203.12 3 7
5 Daisuke MURAKAMI
JPN
203.00 5 4
6 Kevin VAN DER PERREN
BEL
194.63 8 5
7 Adrian SCHULTHEISS
SWE
188.20 7 9
8 Shawn SAWYER
CAN
186.62 11 6
9 Stephen CARRIERE
USA
184.20 10 8
10 Nan SONG
CHN
180.10 9 10
11 Denis TEN
KAZ
176.11 6 11
12 Viktor PFEIFER
AUT
162.47 12 12

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 133.71 66.12 67.59 8.50 8.04 8.57 8.50 8.64 0.00 #8
2 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH CAN 113.84 58.58 55.26 7.00 6.61 6.96 6.96 7.00 0.00 #7
3 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 112.54 61.74 50.80 6.29 6.14 6.50 6.36 6.46 0.00 #5
4 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 107.93 55.17 53.76 6.79 6.39 6.89 6.75 6.79 1.00 #6
5 Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR USA 106.09 57.23 48.86 6.14 5.54 6.36 6.18 6.32 0.00 #2
6 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV RUS 105.76 57.44 49.32 6.18 5.82 6.29 6.25 6.29 1.00 #4
7 Felicia ZHANG / Taylor TOTH USA 78.57 40.43 39.14 5.25 4.64 4.71 4.93 4.93 1.00 #3
8 Stacey KEMP / David KING GBR 73.92 40.83 34.09 4.46 4.07 4.25 4.39 4.14 1.00 #1



FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS

1 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY
GER
197.70 1 1
2 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH
CAN
175.48 2 2
3 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN
CHN
170.07 4 3
4 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT
USA
166.42 3 4
5 Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV
RUS
159.49 5 6
6 Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR
USA
153.33 7 5
7 Felicia ZHANG / Taylor TOTH
USA
126.70 6 7
8 Stacey KEMP / David KING
GBR
115.92 8 8

Carolina Kostner (ITA) leads after Ladies' Short


Italy's Carolina Kostner took the lead in the Ladies Short Program ahead of Kanako Murakami of Japan and Joshi Helgesson of Sweden.

Kostner's “Galicia Flamenco” included a triple toe-double toe combination, a double Axel, triple loop and a level-four circular footwork. The three-time European Champion posted a new seasons best of 60.28 points. “After my clean skate in Japan (at NHK Trophy) I was very happy, because it was my first competition. Today I really wanted to do my triple-triple combination. I skated clean, but I'm not a 100 percent satisfied with my performance”, the Italian said.

Murakami put out a lively program to “Jumpin' Jack” and produced a triple toe-triple toe combination as well as three level-four spins, but she singled the Axel and the triple flip was underrotated. The reigning World Junior Champion scored 54.75 points. “I'm satisfied with my performance, except for the Axel. I couldn't make it”, Murakami told the press. “After the NHK Trophy, I practiced a lot since I didn't do all my jumps there.”

Helgesson turned in a clean program to “Sarabande” that was highlighted by triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple toe and a double Axel. The Swede earned 51.17 points, a new seasons best. “This was best short program I've done this season. My jumps and spins felt really good and my only mistake was that I had a level three on the combination spin. Now I'm excited about the free skating”, she commented.

Rachael Flatt (USA) came fourth after making an error on her combination (51.02 points) and Caroline Zhang (USA) finished fifth.


Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) win Short Dance


Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) won the Short Dance while Canadians Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier and Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje are standing in second and third, separated by just over a point.

Davis/White had to overcome a shaky start into their program set to “La Boheme” and “La Traviata” as he stepped out of a twizzle, but the side by side footwork, the Golden Waltz sequences and the rotational lift were smooth. The Olympic and World silver medalists scored 63.62 points. “We think it (the short dance) is much improved since NHK and we're really excited about the direction it's taking. Just a couple of flukey things here and there, but nothing to be concerned about”, commented Davis. “The track was a little off on the first one (twizzle), and when you start thinking about other things doing the twizzles sometimes that's when it goes wrong. I was just inside of her circle a bit and usually I'm on the other side of her, so I was thinking I need to get over there and in the process I caught an edge”, White elaborated.

Crone/Poirier's Waltz to “Fallin'” by Alicia Keys featured a level-four rotational lift and level-three footwork and twizzles. The Skate Canada Champions collected 60.41 points. “Vanessa and I are definitely very pleased with our performance today. There was a little bit of pressure on ourselves after a really good skate at Skate Canada we wanted to prove to ourselves that we could do another solid short dance again in competition. I think we achieved that goal. There were a few levels that weren't as high as two weeks ago, so when we get home, we'll definitely work on that”, explained Poirier.

Weaver/Poje turned in an elegant dance to “At Last” and “Cheek to Cheek” that was highlighted by a straight line lift (level four) and strong twizzles. They picked up a level four and three for the Golden Waltz sequences to post a new seasons best of 59.48 points. “We had a bit of a shaky warm up, but we came back strong and we wanted to attack the program. We've achieved a level four on the first sequence of the Golden (Waltz) which is an improvement since NHK (Trophy). It's definitely a step into the right direction so far in this season”, Weaver said.

Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) are ranked fourth at 56.46 points and Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Tkachenko (RUS) came fifth with 55.52 points.


Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) claims Men's gold


Japan's Daisuke Takahashi claimed the gold at Skate America on Saturday. Teammate Nobunari Oda completed a successful day for the Japanese men with his silver medal and Armin Mahbanoozadeh (USA) captured the bronze.

Takahashi nailed six clean triples including in his expressive Tango routine, but he fell on his second triple Axel and tripled his intended quad toe. The 24-year-old earned 148.95 points and totaled 227.07 to overtake Oda. “I couldn't skate so well today, but my presentation was better than at the NHK Trophy”, said the World Champion. “I wanted to do the quad toe, but it popped out on the landing. I've landed it twice in competition this season, but it is not consistent in practice”, he added.

Performing to Piano Concertos 1 and 2 by Edvard Grieg, Oda went down on his opening quad toe but recovered to complete six clean triples. However, he did a combination too many that didn't count. He had 146.81 points and slipped to second at 226.09 points overall. “I am very disappointed with my performance tonight, because I did a few mistakes. I was just thinking of doing another combination. I repeated this (kind of mistake) so many times that I can't say anything about a solution. But it won't happen again”, noted Oda.

Mahbanoozadeh delivered a strong performance to “Avatar” that included seven triples and difficult spions and footwork to score 143.56 points. With a total score of 211.17 the 19-year-old moved up from fourth to win his first Grand Prix medal. “I'm thrilled beyond words”,Mahbanoozadeh said. “I felt really confident going in today. The long program has been going well, I've been training it well and I let myself do what I do in practice. It went better than I could have hoped for”, he continued.

Adam Rippon dropped to fourth with 203.12 points and Daisuke Murakami (JPN) finished fifth (203.00 points). Takahashi has qualified for the Grand Prix Final with two wins and Oda most likely qualified with two silver medals.


Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER) skate off with the Pairs gold


Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy of Germany, skated off with the Pairs gold at Skate America. Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch took the silver and the bronze medal went to Wenjing Sui/Cong Han of China.

Savchenko/Szolkowy entertained the crowd at the Rose Garden Arena with their “Pink Panther” program and produced three triple throws, level-four spins and lifts. The only glitch came when Szolkowy stepped out of the second jump in the triple toe-triple toe sequence. The two-time World Champions were awarded 133.71 points and racked up a total of 197.70 points. “Yesterday we were a little disappointed, but tonight we feel better. We are happy that we skated our first long program of the season the way we did. There are still a lot of points that we can get if we skate with all elements and if we skate clean, but now we know what to work on”, Szolkowy told the press.

Moore-Towers/Moscovitch turned in a dynamic performance to “Les Miserables” that was highlighted by triple twist, a throw triple loop and Salchow, but he doubled a toeloop and both stumbled on the triple Salchow. The Canadian team collected 113.84 points and remained in second place at 175.48 points. “This long wasn't our ideal performance. We worked through it. It wasn't exactly our easiest run-through, but our training came through and carried us to the end. We are thrilled to be where we are in our second season together”, Moscovitch explained. The team most likely will compete in the Grand Prix Final after winning to silver medals on the Grand Prix circuit.

Sui/Han delivered a “Charlie Chaplin” program and landed a throw triple flip and a double Axel-double Axel sequence, but she underrotated the triple toe and two-footed the quadruple throw Salchow. The World Junior Champions were awarded 112.54 points, a new seasons best, and took the bronze with 170.07 points. “We didn't do very well in the long program. We lost many points. We are learning from the German team”, Han said.

Caydee Denney/Jeremy Barrett (USA) slipped to fourth at 166.43 points and Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov were ranked fifth (159.49 points).

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CC IT Ded.
- StN.

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 93.06 45.16 50.90 8.25 8.50 8.33 8.71 8.67 3.00 #9
2 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER CAN 88.67 45.25 44.42 7.25 7.42 7.33 7.50 7.54 1.00 #8
3 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 88.35 46.79 41.56 6.79 6.75 7.00 7.13 7.13 0.00 #6
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 82.86 42.58 41.28 6.83 6.71 7.04 6.92 7.04 1.00 #7
5 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO RUS 81.62 40.53 41.09 6.92 6.58 7.00 6.92 7.00 0.00 #5
6 Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT USA 78.59 42.63 35.96 5.92 5.79 6.13 6.13 6.17 0.00 #4
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 68.99 35.30 33.69 5.58 5.38 5.75 5.75 5.79 0.00 #2
8 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR 61.86 31.34 32.52 5.33 5.25 5.58 5.67 5.42 2.00 #3
9 Stefanie FROHBERG / Tim GIESEN GER 60.15 31.86 28.29 4.75 4.50 4.88 4.96 4.63 0.00 #1



FPl. Name Nation Points SD FD

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE
USA
156.68 1 1
2 Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER
CAN
149.08 2 2
3 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI
USA
144.81 4 3
4 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE
CAN
142.34 3 4
5 Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO
RUS
137.14 5 5
6 Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT
USA
130.72 6 6
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED
JPN
113.39 8 7
8 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND
GBR
111.29 7 8
9 Stefanie FROHBERG / Tim GIESEN
GER
104.18 9 9

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Rachael FLATT USA 111.84 57.85 53.99 6.71 6.39 6.96 6.75 6.93 0.00 #9
2 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 110.18 54.75 55.43 7.07 6.64 7.04 7.04 6.86 0.00 #11
3 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 100.35 54.37 45.98 5.96 5.46 5.89 5.71 5.71 0.00 #1
4 Amelie LACOSTE CAN 96.13 46.45 50.68 6.54 6.04 6.46 6.39 6.25 1.00 #7
5 Joshi HELGESSON SWE 95.73 47.38 48.35 6.04 5.71 6.29 6.18 6.00 0.00 #10
6 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 94.59 37.14 58.45 7.43 7.18 7.21 7.32 7.39 1.00 #12
7 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 94.09 44.79 49.30 6.46 5.89 6.21 6.21 6.04 0.00 #5
8 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 88.78 49.10 40.68 5.43 4.57 5.29 5.07 5.07 1.00 #6
9 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 84.89 42.04 42.85 5.68 4.96 5.46 5.29 5.39 0.00 #2
10 Caroline ZHANG USA 81.83 35.97 46.86 6.04 5.39 5.79 6.04 6.04 1.00 #8
11 Min-Jeong KWAK KOR 80.80 39.20 41.60 5.46 4.79 5.25 5.25 5.25 0.00 #3
12 Alexe GILLES USA 77.60 36.79 42.81 5.43 5.32 5.18 5.46 5.36 2.00 #4



FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS

1 Kanako MURAKAMI
JPN
164.93 2 2
2 Rachael FLATT
USA
162.86 4 1
3 Carolina KOSTNER
ITA
154.87 1 6
4 Joshi HELGESSON
SWE
146.90 3 5
5 Amelie LACOSTE
CAN
146.68 6 4
6 Viktoria HELGESSON
SWE
142.26 12 3
7 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI
GEO
139.36 8 7
8 Mae Berenice MEITE
FRA
137.05 7 8
9 Caroline ZHANG
USA
132.49 5 10
10 Jenna MCCORKELL
GBR
127.76 11 9
11 Min-Jeong KWAK
KOR
125.21 10 11
12 Alexe GILLES
USA
122.46 9 12

Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) dance to the gold


Davis/White put out a characteristic Tango routine that featured difficult lifts and a level-three circular step sequence, but they both fell on a transition move. The Olympic and World silver medalists scored 93.06 points and totaled 156.68 points to win their second Grand Prix gold medal this season. “Obviously it wasn't our best skate ever. We had a fall and I had a mistake on the circular step, but we were really going for expression and attack. At NHK, we played it a little safe, we just tried to get through the program because we weren't as prepared as we wanted to be. That's still the case, but we didn't want to get off the ice and say that we left anything out there because we want to be careful. We had the fall, but we can keep our heads held high, because we really put it all out there”, White commented.

Crone/Poirier performed to “Eleanor Rigby” and produced interesting lifts and smooth footwork to pick up 88.67 points. They accumulated 149.08 points overall. “Today we started off really strong. Although we had wobble in the half-way point, other than that we've improved since Skate Canada and we felt more confident”, Crone said.

Shibutani/Shibutani's elegant program to “Smile” and “Let's Face the Music and Dance” included level-four lifts, spin and twizzles while their step sequences garnered a level three. The siblings earned a seasons best of 88.35 points and moved up to third at 144.81 points. “It was great to go out in front of a home crowd. We thought that we put out a stronger performance here than we did at NHK, which was our goal – to show progress. We got some better levels, so we're just really happy with everything”, Maia Shibutani told the press.

Weaver/Poje slipped to fourth at 142.34 points and Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Tkachenko finished fifth with 137.14 points. Davis/White and Crone/Poirier have qualified for the Grand Prix Final while Shibutani/Shibutani need to wait and see what happens in the next two weeks.

Kanako Murakami (JPN) claims Ladies gold


Skating to “The Mask of Zorro”, Murakami hit a triple toe-triple toe combination and three more triple jumps and two level-four spins to post a seasons best of 110.18 points. The reigning World Junior Champion moved up from third to first at 164.93 points. “I skated very well today, but hopefully I'll skate even better next time”, Murakami said. “I didn't even expect to be here, and I didn't expect to be in the Grand Prix Final, so I'm surprised and shocked right now”, she added.

Flatt's program to “Slaughter on 10th Avenue” included five clean triples and a level four change camel spin, but two jumps were underrotated. The U.S. Champion scored 111.84 points, a new seasons best, and moved up from fourth to second at 162.86 points. “I was really excited to have gotten through my long. It was a good effort for me under the circumstances”, Flatt said, who strained a calf muscle at NHK Trophy. “I'm certainly looking forward to getting healthy and getting back to some really good training”, she continued.

Kostner landed a triple toe, two triple Salchows, a double Axel and got a level four for her flying camel spin, but she crashed on a triple loop. The European Champion collected 94.59 points and slipped from first to third with 154.87 points. “The fall was very unexpected, I felt confident on the loop”, Kostner said.

“Today was a tough long for me, I felt not right on my feet. I'm not so pleased with my skating today.”

Joshi Helgesson (SWE) came fourth (146.90 points) ahead of Amelie Lacoste (CAN) with 146.68 points.

Murakami and Kostner have qualified for the Grand Prix Final and Flatt most likely will qualify.

Nice pics of all the skaters Rezev. Kanako, Japans rising star. I think we can expect great things from her. Carolina is on a roll this season as well which is pretty cool I think. Now its Miki time in Russia. Got my fingers crossed for Team Japan.