GRENOBLE, France (AP) — Ilia Malinin, the reigning world champion, made significant progress toward defending his title in the figure skating Grand Prix Final by establishing a considerable 12-point advantage in the short program on Friday. The 20-year-old skater from the United States executed a quadruple flip, a triple axel, and a quad lutz-triple toeloop […]
GRENOBLE, France (AP) — Ilia Malinin, the reigning world champion, made significant progress toward defending his title in the figure skating Grand Prix Final by establishing a considerable 12-point advantage in the short program on Friday.
The 20-year-old skater from the United States executed a quadruple flip, a triple axel, and a quad lutz-triple toeloop combination in a nearly perfect performance, achieving a score of 105.43 points, just shy of his personal record.
Yuma Kagiyama from Japan, an Olympic silver medalist, trailed far behind in second place with 93.49 points before Saturday’s free skate, after experiencing a fall during his opening quad lutz while performing to “The Sound of Silence.”
Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan was competing only due to Adam Siao Him Fa of France withdrawing because of an ankle injury. He seized the opportunity, successfully landing two quads to finish third with a score of 91.26, skating to the soundtrack of “Dune.”
Competing in his native town, France’s Kevin Aymoz had a disastrous beginning, suffering falls on his first two jumps, placing last with 68.82 points.
Additionally, Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin successfully defended their Grand Prix Final title in the pairs competition. The German duo faced an early challenge when Hase put her hand down during a jump combination but bounced back to finish with a total of 218.10 points, well ahead of the competition.
Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara managed to secure second place with 206.71 points, fending off strong competition from Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, who took third with 205.78 points.
“This year was definitely more challenging than last year,” Hase shared. “Last year, we came in with no expectations, but this year, as defending champions, the pressure was certainly higher, so we are extremely pleased that we succeeded.”
They become the first pair to win back-to-back Grand Prix Final championships since fellow Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy in 2012.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates from the United States are currently in the lead in ice dance with a score of 87.73 in the rhythm dance, placing them ahead of Italian duo Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, who scored 83.12, and Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson with 82.31. The ice dance event will conclude on Saturday.
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