The NHK Trophy in Kumamoto, Japan, continued on Friday with the Original Dance, the Ladies' Short Program and the Pairs' Free Skating. The NHK Trophy is the sixth and last event of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.

Ice Dancing, Original Dance

The Ice Dancers started today's competition at the "Aqua Dome" with their Original Dance. Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat of France kept their lead with Lithuania's Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas in second place and Albena Denkova/Maxim Staviski finishing in third.

Skating first in the first group, Denkova/Staviski pulled off a strong Tango and Flamenco that included an original, criss-crossing side by side footwork line. The Couple received marks up to 5.4 for composition as well as for presentation, keeping their edge over the teams below them. "It didn't matter to us that we skated first", Denkova said. "You do the warm up and then go out right away, get it done. We liked that." On the performance, Staviski commented: "I think we did the Tango part a bit better at Lalique (in Paris two weeks ago). But we did everything well today. I'm just feeling jet lagged and tired."

Drobiazko/Vanagas turned in an expressive Paso Doble and Flamenco. The husband and wife team showed strong footwork right on beat with the music and an interesting dance combination spin. Their marks ranged from 5.3 to 5.7 for composition and from 5.5 to 5.8 for presentation. "We felt good out there, we love to skate at this competition. The atmosphere is good, the organization and the crowd are great. They are really pushing us", Vanagas explained. "We didn't make any changes to our dance since the Trophée Lalique. No one told us that we need to change something, and there wouldn't have been time for it anyway."

Anissina/Peizerat clearly defended their lead with a strong and very characteristic Flamenco and Tango. The 2000 World Champions completed intricate footwork in their diagonal as well as in their side by side straight line and also showed original lifts. Anissina used her long Flamenco skirt effectively. The Judges awarded the French marks ranging from 5.5 to 5.8 for composition and from 5.7 to 5.9 for presentation. The couple also received all first place ordinals. "Our dance was a bit more technically exact and clean than at the Trophée Lalique", Peizerat said. "We felt very good in it. Since the Lalique, we refined it and worked on all our elements." Anissina added: "We like both parts (Tango and Flamenco) equally. These rhythms are perfect for us, they are very emotional. We have worked in Spain, we have original costumes, everything goes together."

Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon pulled up one spot to land in fourth place, while Elena Grushina/ Ruslan Goncharov from Ukraine dropped to fifth. Dubreuil/Lauzon produced a fine routine, although their footwork seemed less demanding compared to the top three competitors. The fight for the third spot was tough, as couples ranked third to fifth all had third, fourth and fifth place ordinals.

Ladies, Short Program

The Ladies continued the competition with the Short Program. Angela Nikodinov (USA) took the lead, beating Ukraine's Elena Liashenko and Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan.

Skating to the romantic "Never give up on love", Nikodinov delivered a flawless program that contained a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple flip and strong spins. Her speed and confidence seem to have improved compared to her two previous Grand Prix events. The American, who skated first, got marks from 5.4 to 5.7 for required elements and from 5.6 to 5.7 for presentation. "I feel like I'm getting stronger and stronger", Nikodinov commented. "I know, Elena wants me to be strong. I'm going out to skate for her." Coach Elena Tcherkasskaya, who suffered from cancer, died on November 12. "I was very relaxed and took one thing at a time", the 21-year-old continued, referring to her performance. "The short program is only half of it, I'll enjoy it a little bit and let it go."

Liashenko put in a clean Short Program as well. She hit a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination right at the beginning, followed by a triple flip and a flying camel spin. The Judges awarded the Ukrainian marks up to 5.5 for required elements and presentation. "I think I skated a bit better than at the Cup of Russia", Liashenko said. "It's rare that you are at a 100 percent, but if you can pull yourself together, you'll do it. You need to overcome the fear inside you."

Malinina started off strong with a perfect triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, but then she two-footed her triple flip. The remaining elements of the program, especially the spins, were well executed. "I was nervous, when I went out there. I could have landed the flip cleanly, but I suddenly got afraid. So I two-footed it. I wasn't confident enough. However, my combination was good," she explained.

The Judges were divided on the Skaters ranked second to sixth place. Liashenko's ordinals ranged from two to four and Malinina's from two to five. Japan's Yoshie Onda landed all her jumps in her Short Program, but perhaps she lacked expression compared to her three top rivals.

Pairs, Free Program

The Pairs concluded today's competition with their Free Skating. Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao of China successfully defended their NHK Trophy title, while Russia's Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov captured the silver medal and Dorota Zagorska/Mariusz Siudek (Poland) took the bronze.

Skating first in the last flight, Petrova/Tikhonov opened their program set to "Chess" with side by side triple toeloops. Then she landed a side by side double Axel-triple toeloop sequence, while he doubled the toeloop. The 2000 World Champions also produced a triple twist, triple throw Salchow and difficult lifts, but Petrova stepped out of the landing of the triple throw toeloop. The team received marks up to 5.7 for both technical merit and presentation and stayed in second overall.

Next up were Shen/Zhao, who nailed a side by side double Axel-triple toeloop sequence, a high triple throw Salchow and a huge triple throw loop, followed by a triple twist and side by side double Axels out of a spread eagle. The routine set to a selection from the opera "Turandot", by Giacomo Puccini, also featured nice moves in between the key elements. The World bronze medallists decided against trying the spectacular quadruple throw Salchow in competition although they have landed it in practice. Nonetheless, the Judges awarded them all 5,8s and 5,9s for technical merit and presentation. Zagorska/Siudek had to overcome a shaky start, as she missed the triple toeloop and singled the Axel. The married couple then recovered to complete a triple twist, double throw Axel and impressive lifts.

"We are glad to have won here again, it's our third title. We skated very well", Zhao told the press. "We feel that we are very close to do the quad throw Salchow (in competition)." Shen added: "We are practicing the quad throw so much that we have problems with the triple throw Salchow." Petrova/Tikhonov collected their third medal at NHK Trophy - after one gold and one bronze medal, they now have a silver. "This competition was another stepping stone for the Olympic Games", Tikhonov said. "We are glad to have skated well. I only did a double toeloop in the sequence, but Maria did a triple. So I made a mistake." Petrova explained that she hadn't enough strength left to complete the triple throw toeloop cleanly.

"We are happy to have a won a medal, but we are not so pleased with our skating. We made several mistakes", Siudek commented. "But the Olympics are the most important competition, and we will work hard for them."

The Russian team of Julia Obertas/Alexei Sokolov finished in fourth place with a lyrical performance, but they made mistakes on the side by side jumps. Two Couples had to withdraw before the Free Skating: Japan's Yuko Kawaguchi/Alexander Markuntsov, who stood in seventh place after the Short Program, had to withdraw, as he fell sick with chicken pox. Anabelle Langlois/Patrice Archetto (CAN), in sixth place after the Short, withdrew because she came down with a fever.

NHK Trophy was a scoring event for all three medallists. Shen/Zhao collected 12 points and are qualified for the Final with 24 points overall. Petrova/Tikhonov won 9 points and now have a total 18 to qualify as well. Zagorska/ Siudek have 12 points from both of their events, which may not be enough to make the Final.

The NHK Trophy continues on Saturday with the Men's Short Program, the Free Dance and the Ladies' Free Skating.

Results

Ice Dancing

PL	Competitor				Nation	CD	OD	TFP

1.	Marina ANISSINA/ Gwendal PEIZERAT	FRA	1	1	1.0
2.	Margarita DROBIAZKO/ Povilas VANAGAS	LTU	2	2	2.0
3.	Albena DENKOVA/ Maxim STAVIYSKI		BUL	3	3	3.0
4.	Marie F. DUBREUIL/ Patrice LAUZON	CAN	5	4	4.4
5.	Elena GRUSHINA/ Ruslan GONCHAROV	UKR	4	5	4.6
6.	Marika HUMPHREYS/ Vitali BARANOV	GBR	6	6	6.0
7.	Jessica JOSEPH/ Brandon FORSYTH		USA	8	7	7.4
8.	Alia OUABDESSELAM/ Benjamin DELMAS	FRA	7	8	7.6
9.	Nozomi WATANABE/ Akiyuki KIDO		JPN	9	9	9.0
10.	Rie ARIKAWA/ Kenji MIYAMOTO		JPN	10	10	10.0

Pairs 

PL	Competitor				Nation	SP	FS	TFP

1.	Xue SHEN/ Hongbo ZHAO			CHN	1	1	1.5
2.	Maria PETROVA/ Alexei TIKHONOV		RUS	2	2	3.0
3.	Dorota ZAGORSKA/ Mariusz SIUDEK		POL	3	3	4.5
4.	Julia OBERTAS/ Alexei SOKOLOV		RUS	4	4	6.0
5.	Qing PANG/ Jian TONG			CHN	5	5	7.5
6.	Stephanie KALESAVICH/ Aaron PARCHEM	USA	8	6	10.0
7.	Natalia PONOMAREVA/ Evgeniy SVIRIDOV	UZB	9	7	11.5

Ladies

PL	Competitor		Nation	FP

1.	Angela NIKODINOV	USA	0.5
2.	Elena LIASHENKO		UKR	1.0
3.	Tatyana MALININA	UZB	1.5
4.	Yoshie ONDA		JPN	2.0
5.	Julia SEBESTYEN		HUN	2.5
6.	Fumie SUGURI		JPN	3.0
7.	Annie BELLEMARE		CAN	3.5
8.	Ann Patrice McDONOUGH	USA	4.0
9.	Kanako TAKAHASHI	JPN	4.5



For further information please contact:

Aline Bussat Ingwersen, 
ISU Media Coordinator 
Tel: +41 21 612 66 66   
Fax: +41 21 612 66 77
E-mail: bussat@isu.ch	

or

NHK Trophy
Mr. Hiroshi Kobayashi, 
Press Officer
Tel: +81 96 212 6901 

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