Although our skaters are not allowed to participate in international competitions, Russians continue to shine on the world stage. Anastasia Gubanova, under the flag of Georgia, has already won the first tournament of the new season, and Ekaterina Kurakova, a skater from Poland, stopped one step away from the podium. The girls were able to express themselves out loud at the Lombardia Trophy Challenger in Bergamo, Italy. Not even a Japanese woman with a triple axle could dislodge Nastya!
Another former Russian, Alina Urushadze, who, like Gubanova, plays in Georgia, also had good opportunities in Italy. However, mistakes and the reluctance of the judges to afford to use ingredients nullified all the efforts of the girl.
Extremely low scores for European figure skaters
The Lombardia Trophy free program was opened by the less fortunate girls in the short program. The four participants wanted to prove that yesterday’s parade of mistakes in their performances was an unfortunate misunderstanding and hoped to move up the rankings. However, first of all, it was important for them to take revenge on themselves and regain confidence in their own abilities.
Some people did it. For example, 16-year-old Belgian Nina Pinzarrón, who polished the ice twice in her short program the day before. In the free program with music from the famous ballet “Spartacus” she looked better, although she approached the jumps with obvious caution and missed several starts. 108.02 points in the free skate and 155.43 total are far from Nina’s usual scores, but the lack of falls today should cheer her up and help erase her unfortunate short program from her memory.
How was the short program?
The former Russians are already fighting for victory in international competitions. Gubanova took the lead!
Korea’s Yoon Ahson, who came in last place after the short, also had to deal with her nerves. She cannot boast of a series of strong jumps, but in the free program she had a decent performance. In the “kiss and edge” zone, Ason smiled, although the scores were low: 1 point for the free dance, 86.58 points and 132.04 points in the total. They displayed them for a long time: they were probably looking for low-turnover ones.
Norway’s Mia Risa Gomez moved the crowd with a lyrical aerial performance, but two falls, a shaky start on the jumps and a final score of 129.53 points hinted that she has a lot of work to do before her next competition. And the 122.87 points (of course, this is the sum of the short and free) of Angelina Kuchvalskaya from Latvia create a depressing impression that the women’s single in Europe is desperately deteriorating. Our girls get more points in a free program!
Former Russian Urushadze got very low scores
In the second group of participants, the Georgian single skater Alina Urushadze worried the fans. The former Russian returned to competitions after almost two years of absence and she is forced to recover her reputation before the judges. This is very disappointing, because the girl has not lost her former content and has remained in good shape. In the free show of ABBA’s immortal hit “Mamma Mia”, she felt some stiffness in the jumps, but she avoided serious mistakes. As for some spots, they are quite natural after such a long rest.
It’s good that Alina, in principle, continues her career and once again pleases the fans with her emotional and feminine skating. It is a pity that strict judges are in no hurry to be inspired by him, and in Bergamo they made it clear to Urushadze that they would have to fight for her sympathy. Proof of this are the very low scores for the free skate: 98.49. And the 50.86-point components leave a lot to be desired.
After the short the situation was the same: Alina’s second score turned out to be extremely low. So her final score of 152.60 points is a result of the judges’ greed.
Alina Urushadze
Photo: Natalia Fedosenko/TASS
Last season, two-time Estonian champion Nina Petrykina said she was learning the triple axel and even practiced it in training. However, she has never inserted it into either the short program or the free program. In the Italian tournament there were no surprises either. Nina was based on stable elements that, as seen in the short, are not so stable. In Lutz she suffered a nasty “butterfly”: instead of three turns, she turned only one. After this, of course, it would be stupid to expect a triple Axel from her in the free program.
The figure skater performed a series of standard jumps, touching the ice once with her hand on the landing and falling twice in the second half of the program. It was sad to see, because the athlete is talented. She left the ice sadly and then simply held her face as the scores were announced: 101.72 points for the free skate and the final 156.93 points.
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Gubanova fell, but still won
The strong warm-up of the girls in the Lombardia Trophy took place in maximum tension, since two former Russians performed at the same time. The leader of the Georgian team, Anastasia Gubanova, took first place the day before after a short race with a 6-point advantage over her rivals. Ekaterina Kurakova, representative of Poland, was currently in fourth position, but she had excellent chances of winning a medal.
Perhaps the realization of the reality of winning prizes had a negative impact on Katya’s performance in the free program. The usually cheerful and cheerful single skater appeared in a dramatic image and put maximum emotion into every move, but a mistake when landing on one of the jumps cost her precious points. A series of rapid spirals on the rink failed to improve the situation: these beautiful elements serve as decoration, not weapons, in figure skating competitions.
Judges’ verdict for Katya: 116.62 points for the free program and a total score of 178.62; At first glance, there was still hope to be in the top three, but it was imaginary.
Ekaterina Kurakova
Photo: Valery Sharifulin/TASS
In any case, against the background of the American Ava Marie Ziegler, who opened the fight for the podium, Katya skated very well. The single skater from the USA skated under the theme “I fell, but I got up” and she scored just 97.13 points for it.
After Kurakova, all the public’s attention went to the Japanese Hana Yoshida, who went for a triple Axel in the free skate. In the short program she fell from a treacherous jump, and in the free program, unfortunately, this happened again. It is important to note that previously, including this season, Hana had already performed the trixel cleanly, but at the Lombardia Trophy fortune turned against her.
However, his attempt deserves respect. Instead of playing it safe, he stubbornly follows the path of progress and is not afraid to take risks. In the absence of our figure skaters at international competitions, very few people turn to the ultra-c elements.
122.91 points in the free skate and 185.45 in the total secured Hana a place on the podium with a silver medal, which she was very happy with.
Hana Yoshida
Photo: Matthew StockmanGetty Images
Elegant Korean Kim Chae-yong skated in the free program like a true warrior. She handled all the elements and did it very well. After skating, she grabbed her shoulder: was she really acting with an injury? Or did he manage to damage it during the show? The girl’s pain was transmitted from a distance. But all the Korean’s efforts paid off: 117.51 points in the free skate and 180.78 in the two skates gave her bronze. She expected more, but what happened was what happened.
The competition was closed by Anastasia Gubanova. Going out on the ice as a leader was, of course, exciting for her, although the title of European champion should somehow instill confidence and give her strength. After the wonderful performance of the little girl, there was a feeling that she surely would not miss the victory in Italy. Nastya clearly did a great job of the offseason and approached her first start in excellent shape.
Anastasia Gubanova
Photo: Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Their free program should have ended in triumph, but, apparently, pressure from the leadership still led to unnecessary errors. The first part of the program went perfectly: Nastya fluttered like a beautiful butterfly and radiated an incredible intensity of emotions. And suddenly she fell! Maybe she was too immersed in the image? It is not clear how else to explain this failure.
Nastya’s scores in the free skate were modest – 115.95 points. He only received less at last year’s Finnish Grand Prix. Fortunately, the escape after the short helped him maintain first place. With a total of 185.60 he won his first gold of the new season.
Congratulations to Nastya and we wish her good luck in future tournaments!
