After the rhythm dance, it might have seemed that the French championships Gabriela Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron came to the Russian Championship in Krasnoyarsk, with two copies of them at once. Victoria Sinitsina with Nikita Katsalapov and Alexandra Stepanova with Ivan Bukin performed in the spirit of world champions - with complete domination of their rivals, which was expressed in a ten-point margin from third place.
But between the two leaders of Russian dances, the rivalry was just beginning. They shared only 1.3 points - this is just a couple of lost levels in a free dance, provided that otherwise the judges will evaluate both duets equally. And there were prerequisites for this, since on the eve of the components Stepanov and Bukin got the upper hand, and Sinitsin and Katsalapov were better in technology.
Before the two main duets began to play gold, the fight for bronze had to end. In it, Tiffany Zagorski and Jonathan Gureiro had a certain advantage over the other two duets from the strongest workout, but still not so stunning. And Annabel Morozova with Andrei Bagin, and Anastasia Skoptsova with Kirill Alyoshin were inferior to less than four points.
Wards Nikolai Morozov opened the final group of participants. With their soft glide and emotionality, they immediately stood out from the others. In the free dance, Morozova and Bagina still had their drawbacks - small flaws on twizzles, albeit rated at fourth levels, and lack of complexity on the tracks. In general, the couple showed their future prospects, because she herself has been playing a little more than three years together, and the Russian Championship was her debut. The dancers took the lead with a score of 189.10 points - a little less than it was at the recent Zagreb Golden Skate.
Skoptsova and Kaleshin had only 0.31 points of advantage after the rhythm dance, and it was extremely difficult to maintain it. The last year-old world junior champions did not succeed - they just didn’t have that speed that could interest the judges, and in the second half of the dance their forces completely disappeared. Skoptsova alone was too hard to pull the program, and as a result, the duo was located behind the leaders with an estimate of 186.81 points.
Hopes of Morozova and Bagina for the medal did not last long - Zagorski and Gureyro so reproduced the image of Lara Croft from the film of the same name that removed all questions about his return to the podium. In the basic technical cost, their dance in the end turned out to be the best for the day, but they themselves were not laid out too much on individual elements, which affected the estimates, but it was their main goal to prove the program without any unnecessary nerves and return the lost one year ago. Zagorski and Gureiro before the main dance battle rose to first place with a score of 197.73 points.
“We appreciate our performance. We talked with Tiffany before going out on the ice that the tournament was different from the tournament, as was the mood for it. It was important for us to dance so that we went to the European Championship. How we arrived was not so important. The main task was to do everything that was needed for the next step. It turned out pretty well, the audience supported us. From a technical point of view, we are satisfied, ”said Gureyro after the rental.
In the dispute for the championship, Stepanova and Bukin were the first to show themselves. The couple also significantly restrained emotions, because usually it is she who is ahead of everyone in this direction. After the Grand Prix finals, the dancers made a bet on the performance, and the judges penetrated. Whatever the element, then to the fourth level and with very good allowances - in principle, the duet did not receive below the triples. The figures highlighted in the end were simply amazing - Stepanova and Bukin scored 132.59 points for the dance and 219.72 points in total. Only the same Papadakis and Sizeron earned more this season.
“We did not save power. It was very nice to ride, the audience supported every element. We had a fire burning inside, it was very nice, ”said Bukin after hire.
“This is a very difficult start on the nerves, the last tournament before the holidays. The first half of the season was quite interesting. This is a very good result for us, we were well appreciated by the coaches. They are also worried, they keep a lot of things in mind, while we only need to ride, ”added Stepanova.
By that time they already knew that their amazing dance under Justin Timberlake did not bring them the long-awaited gold. Sinitsina and Katsalapov with their updated after the Grand Prix finals program managed a little worse, not escaping the two third levels on twizzles and track. In the free dance, the current champions of Russia lost, but the components and stock after the rhythm dance brought them the second gold in a row. They raised the total bar right up to 220.74 points - at international starts with this result you can claim a lot.
“We really hope that they kept the audience in suspense until the end. Today, it was not entirely possible to open up. We tried more to control the elements. We are still alive, there are forces, absolutely normal working condition. I even feel like rolling some moments. We wanted to show what we gained after the Grand Prix finals, then we lost a lot of points. If it succeeded, then very well. We can then add confident open skating, ”promised two-time Russian champion Katsalapov.