BEIJING, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) — Japanese star skater Kaori Sakamoto dominated the ladies’s occasion regardless of an error in triple flip in the course of the free skating, whereas the US favourite Ilia Malinin clinched the lads’s gold on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final right here on Saturday.
“I adjusted myself quickly after the mistake and had a great overall performance. I have maintained a positive mindset this season and become mature step by step,” stated Sakamoto, who ranked first after the quick program on Friday and gained the gold with a complete rating of 225.70 factors.
Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx earned 203.36 factors to safe the ladies’s silver, simply 0.2 factors forward the bronze medalist Hana Yoshida of Japan.
The 19-year-old Malinin additionally recovered from the errors within the free skating and achieved a personal-best of 314.66 factors to win the title, adopted by Japan’s Shoma Uno and Yuma Kagiyama with 297.34 and 288.65 factors respectively.
“When I came here, I was in a great mood to skate. I just trust my training and the hours that I put in. I am very excited and want to say thanks to everyone here supporting me throughout my whole program. It means a lot,” Malinin stated after the competitors.
The American pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates collected 221.61 factors to say the victory in ice dance, sharing the rostrum with Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy and the Canadian pair Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier who earned 215.51 and 213.58 factors respectively.
“It’s a very good feeling to start your day, having little goals to look forward to and striving for bigger goals,” Chock stated. “Our motivation comes from our love of sports, and we share the same passion for figure skating. We have the best skating this week and will be ready for the second half of the season after the vacation.”
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final will conclude on Sunday with an exhibition Gala.