ao Asada earned an easy victory over Kimmie Meissner and Ashley Wagner on Saturday at the Trophee Bompard.
Asada was in tears Friday after missing her combination in the short program, even though she was leading. She opened her free program by falling on her triple axel. She came back to make five triple jumps to a piece by Chopin.
Also, Canadian teenager Patrick Chan sprung an upset in the men's event, French couple Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder won the ice dance and Chinese couples went 1-2 in the pairs event.
Asada was much happier after her second victory of the season. She won at Skate Canada two weeks ago.
``I missed my first jump and I was a bit nervous,'' said Asada, who scored 179.80 points. ``Then I made the next jump and I came back strong.''
Meissner, one of the few other women who have done a triple axel, was a distant second with 158.63 points. Skating to Puccini's ``Turandot,'' she did a triple flip-triple toe loop combination and a triple lutz. She added a triple salchow by the two minute mark, then the American faltered.
She singled a lutz and went down hard on a triple loop.
``I started off well then I didn't finish so well,'' Meissner said.
She barely managed to stay ahead of her younger teammate, Wagner, who just turned 16.
Wagner was third in the world juniors to complete a U.S. sweep but improved on her fifth at Skate Canada. On Saturday, she had six triples to a tango medley that ended with a look of astonishment as she held her face with both hands.
``I was just living the moment. It was really heart felt,'' Wagner said. ``I was really happy I skated that performance.''
She was second in the free skating with more triples than Asada and Meissner.
The 16-year-old Chan pulled off the biggest win of his career in the men's event.
To Vivaldi's ``Four Seasons,'' Chan put in six triple jumps in the first half of the program but tired. He doubled a salchow then fell down in his final spin.
``At Skate America, I fumbled a bit on the exact same spin,'' Chan said. ``This time, I landed the triple flip at the end and I was overjoyed a bit as it was an almost clean program.''
He qualified for the Grand Prix final in Turin, Italy, in December.
``I wasn't even thinking about making the final. I was just thinking about showing my components. I will be nervous, but I will train hard and try to skate as well as I did here if not better,'' Chan said.
Chan scored 214.94 points overall and had the top free skate score of 144.05. Sergei Voronov of Russia, coached by 1994 Olympic champion Alexei Urmanov, was second with 208.91 points.
Alban Preaubert of France, who led after the short program, was third with 207.10.
The event was missing another Frenchman, world champion Brian Joubert. He has a virus that causes fatigue and withdrew Thursday. Doctors have recommended he take at least 10 days off.
In the ice dance, Delobel and Schoenfelder had a rough time in their free dance set to the music from the movie ``The Piano.'' He fell off balance during his one-foot spins and while lifting her.
``We won but we are disappointed today because we weren't perfect in technique,'' Schoenfelder said.
The French couple had 194.14 overall points. The Russians took the free dance by more than three points in their routine to the dramatic ``Night on Bald Mountain.''
Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States were third.
In the pairs, Olympic silver medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao beat 2006 world champions Pang Qing and Tong Jian. The Zhangs, no relation, scored 196.96 points in a routine punctuated by high twiple twists and powerful throw jumps.
Americans Tiffany Visa and Derek Trent were fourth, but completed a rare quad throw salchow, ratified by the ISU technical controller.
The Trophee Bompard is the fourth event in the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series. The top six scorers in each of the four events qualify for the Grand Prix final next month.
Sat November 17, 2007 18:12 EST
SALVATORE ZANCA
Associated Press Writer
PARIS
Japan's Mao Asada performs her ladies free skating program during the Figure Skating Bompard Trophy at Bercy stadium in Paris, Saturday Nov. 17, 2007.
(AP Photo/Francois Mori)
ao Asada earned an easy victory over Kimmie Meissner and Ashley Wagner on Saturday at the Trophee Bompard.
