Kim Yu-Na, Zhang and Zhang Win Gold at Cup of Russia
im Yu-na of South Korea won her second Grand Prix gold medal of the season Saturday with a precise and passionate free skate in the Cup of Russia.
In the pairs, Chinese couple Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao took their second gold medal in two weeks.
Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov of Russia completed a quad throw salchow, only the second time the jump has been accomplished in International Skating Union competition, but finished with bronze behind Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany.
Skating to the soundtrack of ``Miss Saigon,'' Kim opened with a triple flip-triple toe combination and didn't show even minor faltering until her mid-program triple lutz when she landed with a wobble. She sat in to her subsequent triple salchow slightly, but recovered her form and knocked off a late-program double axel. Earlier, she made a double axel-triple toe combination with assurance.
The gold in Moscow and her win at the Cup of China qualifies Kim for the Grand Prix final, which she won last year.
``Some jumps were unstable,'' Kim said. ``But I got my personal best (score) and I made it to the Grand Prix final, so I'm happy.''
Yukari Nakano of Japan won silver, opening with a triple axel and completing an unexpected triple-double-double toe loop cascade. Nakano also qualifies for the Grand Prix final and said she saw her performance in Moscow as a step forward.
``I did a very clean triple axel. Before, I didn't have enough speed,'' she said.
Joannie Rochette of Canada zoomed up from fifth place after the short program to win bronze. She made a double axel-double axel combo late in the program, though she put her hand down. She also stumbled coming out of both jumps in a triple toe-triple salchow.
Rochette was aided by the disintegration of Kiira Korpi's free skate. The Finn was third after the short program, but missed all three of her combination jumps, including singling her planned opening triple loop.
Zhang and Zhang, who are not related, had only slight problems to the moody soundtrack of ``The Myth.'' He put his hand down on a triple salchow, while there was some synchronization failures in their spins.
Savchenko and Szolkowy opened with a long throw triple flip, but were plagued by problems in the middle of the program until ending dramatically with an elegant throw triple salchow as the last element.
Kawaguchi landed the quad awkwardly and expressed frustration with other rough points in the program. But their coach Tatiana Moskvina was delighted with the quad.
``It's always difficult the first time. The fact is that it happened,'' she said.
In ice dancing, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia were in a strong lead after the original dance segment, more than 10 points ahead of Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France.
The Russians amused the crowd with tongue-in-cheek moves to a Cossack dance, including a straight-line lift where Domnina kicked her legs as if she had been seized by a lusty suitor. Unlike the other contestants, who chose Eastern European music, the French couple stood out with flamenco music that they played to with passion and humor, including Pechalat pulling a fan flirtatiously from her bodice.
Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia were in third place after the original dance.
Sat November 24, 2007 12:01 EST
JIM HEINTZ
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW
Chinese pair Zhang Dan, left, and Zhang Hao perform their free program at the Cup of Russia ISU Grand Prix figure skating event in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007.
(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Korea's Kim Yu-na performs her free program at the Cup of Russia ISU Grand Prix figure skating event in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007. Kim won the event.
(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
im Yu-na of South Korea won her second Grand Prix gold medal of the season Saturday with a precise and passionate free skate in the Cup of Russia.
